On 18 February, the Guardian carried an article about a 115-megawatt coal plant located a dozen miles from the historic site of the famous battle of Little Big Horn in southern Montana that was slated to close but has been revived by a Bitcoin-mining company, using its output to power a data centre on 20 acres of land beside the facility that is packed with more than 30,000 Antminer S19 units, a specialised computer that mines for bitcoin. However, emissions from the burning of coal soared, with 187,000 tons of carbon dioxide emitted in the second quarter of last year, more than 5000% more than was expelled in the same period in 2020. The article gives other examples as well. It concludes that it remains to be seen if bitcoin will make a significant move away from fossil fuels, but it will likely come under increasing scrutiny over its appetite for fossil fuel-powered electricity.
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