Bitcoin miners propose standardizing energy reporting

North American bitcoin miners have agreed to form a bitcoin mining council to increase transparency into energy usage.
The committee brings together the wisdom of all parties and was co-founded by Elon Musk and Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, a Virginia-based business intelligence company, and several top North American bitcoin miners.
It is well known that Bitcoin mining is a highly energy-intensive industry, but estimates of its electricity consumption vary greatly. For example, on Monday, May 31, the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) estimated that its annual electricity consumption was between 38.93 terawatt-hours and 260.91 terawatt-hours, about 114.81 terawatt-hours. However, the annual electricity consumption predicted by Bitcoin energy monitoring expert Alex de Vries based on Digital Economics is 124.12 terawatt-hours.
Additionally, criticism of Bitcoin consumption is leading to growing calls for the mining industry to use renewable energy and adopt environmental initiatives that could give Bitcoin mining a “sustainable” image.
In a series of tweets, Saylor outlined the council’s role to standardize energy reporting to increase transparency and accelerate sustainability initiatives by pursuing industry environmental, social and corporate governance goals, educating and developing the market.
Musk added that Bitcoin miners have committed to publishing their current and planned renewable energy usage and will ask other miners around the world to do the same.
“This goal may be achievable,” Musk said on Twitter.
Musk had previously announced that Tesla could continue to accept Bitcoin for car purchases and sell the cryptocurrency only if it used more renewable energy in its mining industry.
Companies involved in Bitcoin mining are Argo Blockchain, Blockcap, Core Scientific, Galaxy Digital, Hive Blockchain, Hut 8 Mining, Marathon Digital, and Riot Blockchain.
There are no details yet on how the Bitcoin Mining Committee will operate and how it will go about achieving its stated goals, but Saylor mentioned that there is a lack of a universal model for Bitcoin’s energy usage and future forecasts.
Initial reactions to the commission were mixed, with some expecting it to increase transparency, while others saw it as a monopoly and rejected it.
The Bitcoin Mining Council may also face challenges in achieving global coverage. While U.S. mining companies have the second-largest share of total global ore prices, their average share is just over 7%, according to CBECI’s analysis, and almost two-thirds of mining activity takes place in China.
The United States was followed by Russia (6.9%) and Kazakhstan (6.2%), with a number of other countries (including Malaysia, Iran, Canada, Germany, Norway and Venezuela) ranking lower.
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