Musk: Renewable Energy Audits Could Help Address BTC’s Energy Concerns

Auditing the quantities of renewable energy used by large-scale BTC miners is crucial in calming fears about the crypto’s carbon footprint. This is according to Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk. Musk was responding to a tweet from Brett Winton, Ark Investments director of research. The latter had asked about Bitcoin mining’s potential to enhance the adoption of solar and battery systems on the power grid. 

Renewables And BTC Energy Concerns

The Tesla CEO held that recent growth in energy usage wouldn’t have been possible were it not for renewables.

He further opined that it’s easy to resolve concerns about BTC mining. For that to happen, the top ten hashing organizations would’ve to reveal their audited numbers of processes that used renewable energy vs those that didn’t.

Responding to another Twitter user’s query about the ideal energy for mining, Elon Musk proposed a value of 0.1kWh. The figure would be a factor of the system’s total energy consumption divided by the maximum transaction rate.

BTC Is Unsustainable

Again he said that Dogecoin (DOGE), his favourite cryptos, still had a lot to do to lessen its environmental impact. It is instructive that DOGE, like BTC, uses a proof of work protocol in validating transactions.

Bitcoin’s critics have long held that the world’s leading crypto is environmentally unsustainable. Their stance is further bolstered by findings from revered academic institutions, including Cambridge University.

In its latest Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, the university states that crypto mining energy use surpasses entire nations such as Sweden and Malaysia.

Push For Greener Cryptos

It is such misgivings that have seen an emergence of a push for greener cryptos. At the forefront of this drive are various industry-leading lights, among them Elon Musk.

So far, Mr Musk has been a significant force creating awareness of BTC’s carbon footprint. Previously one of the BTC’s strongest proponents, he has since become its foremost critic.

Musk’s Change Of Heart

At the height of his support, his firm had accumulated up to $1.5 billion of the currency. Tesla had also started accepting BTC payments for the purchase of its vehicles in February.

But in a quick change of heart, Musk reversed the decision to accept BTC payments. While justifying this shift, he said that cryptocurrency was a good idea that had a promising feature. However, its adoption couldn’t come at a tremendous environmental cost.