Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:
中国のビットコイン採掘、近く炭素排出量で一部欧州国に匹敵か 研究
2021.04.10 Sat posted at 18:00 JST
ニューヨーク（ＣＮＮ Ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ） 仮想通貨（暗号資産）ビットコインの人気が高まる中国では近く、ビットコイン採掘による炭素排出量だけで、欧州の一部の国の総排出量に匹敵する可能性がある――。そんな研究結果が科学誌ネイチャー・コミュニケーションズに発表された。
研究によると、ビットコイン関連のエネルギー消費がピークを迎える２０２４年には、中国だけで炭素排出量が１億３０００万トンを超える見通し。
これはチェコやカタールの１６年の総排出量を上回る値となる。英ケンブリッジ大学のシナン・クフェオグル助教（土木工学）が手掛けた今回の研究によると、ビットコインのブロックチェーン（分散型台帳）による年間のエネルギー消費量は、デンマークやアイルランド、バングラデシュといった小～中規模国に匹敵する可能性があるという。
ビットコイン人気が高まるなか、中国はその中心地となりつつある。今回の研究によると、中国のビットコイン産業を一つの国とみなした場合、１６年のエネルギー総消費量はイタリアやサウジアラビアといった主要経済国を超えて世界１２位に入っていた計算になる。
ビットコイン人気の高まりにつれ、採掘に使われるハードウェアは変化してきた。研究チームによると、採掘は当初、汎用コンピューターの中央演算処理装置（ＣＰＵ）で行われていた。
その後、採掘過程がパワーやハッシュレートで勝るＧＰＵ（画像処理装置）に移行した結果、エネルギー消費量が増大。最終的には、採掘関連の計算を最適化する目的で「特定用途向け集積回路（ＡＳＩＣＳ）」が導入された。
Translation
New York (CNN Business) -- Cryptocurrency (cryptographic asset) Bitcoin was becoming more popular in China, and the carbon emissions from Bitcoin mining alone could be comparable to the total emissions of some European countries. The results of such research were published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
According to research, carbon emissions in China alone were expected to exceed 130 million tons in 2024, when Bitcoin-related energy consumption peaks.
This was higher than the total emissions of the Czech Republic and Qatar in 2016. According to this study by the Assistant Professor Sinan Kufeoguru (Civil Engineering) of the University of Cambridge, it was said that the annual energy consumption of Bitcoin blockchain (distributed ledger) might be comparable to small to medium-sized countries such as Denmark, Ireland and Bangladesh.
With the growing popularity of Bitcoin, China was becoming the center of it. According to this study, if China's Bitcoin industry was regarded as one country, total energy consumption in 2016 had exceeded the major economies such as Italy and Saudi Arabia, and would be ranked 12th in the world.
China, where dedicated hardware and cheap electricity were readily available, now accounted for more than 75% of the hashing power of Bitcoin networks alone. Hashing power was the power that computers and hardware used to execute and solve algorithms. With such an algorithm, it became possible to generate a new total amount of Bitcoins, and carried out transactions between Bitcoins.
With the growing popularity of Bitcoin, the hardware used for mining had changed. According to the research team, mining was initially carried out on the central processing unit (CPU) of a general-purpose computer.
Then, the mining process was shifted to GPU (Graphic processing unit) which was superior in power and hash rate, and as a result energy consumption increased. Eventually, "Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICS)" were introduced for the purpose of optimizing mining-related calculations.
So, in bitcoin
mining process sees a lot of improvement in recent years. The use of the
central processing unit (CPU) of a general-purpose computer has been shifted to
GPU (graphic processing unit) which is superior in hash rate. Also,
"Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICS)" are introduced for
the purpose of optimizing mining-related calculations. It is also noted that
the bitcoin mining process is related to blockchain.
Notes:
1“Hash-rate” refers to the total combined computational power that is being used to mine and process transactions on a Proof-of-Work blockchain, such as Bitcoin.
2. The mining process and efficiency have improved with the use of better hardware in recent years. Graphics Processing Units (GPU) have been used in the mining process because they are more efficient. (https://www.investopedia.com/tech/gpu-cryptocurrency-mining)
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