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Comment by 67868018 | Hacker News Reader

Before getting too concerned about the power usage of blockchain technology, go look at how much power generated in the USA is thrown away (rejected energy)

https://www.llnl.gov/news/us-energy-use-rises-highest-level-...

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I don't believe that means the power plant or company is throwing energy away, it means how much is lost to inefficient devices or processes, including at the end user. So the more efficient LED lights throw away less energy than the older incandescent bulbs, since we know we can literally feel the heat radiate off those. And since the heat isn't the intended function of that bulb, light is, that heat is just wasted energy.

Since those Bitcoin blockchain calculations are pretty intense, they make your processor work hard. In doing so there is extra energy that literally gets wasted bc it heats up the processor, and again just like the bulb heat isn't the intended function so that heat byproduct is just wasted energy.

These use Ethereum, not Bitcoin, and ETH is usually mined with GPUs, not CPUs. This isn't overly relevant to your point, since it probably doesn't matter too much in terms of power consumption per unit of work; GPUs consume huge amounts of power and generate lots of heat, just like CPUs, and often more.

We have the technologies to reduce the loss in many places, we just don't because there isn't an economic incentive.

Rejected energy is not thrown away energy. It is a result of the fact that our technologies do not have an efficiency degree of 100%.

Bitcoin Mining uses 120 TWh/year[1] which is way to much imo. The problem is that bitcoin uses the Hashcash proof of work system[2]. But there are mechanisms like proof of stake which can solve this problem.[3] Its about time to convert all blockchains to energy-saving mechanisms..

[1]https://www.forbes.com/sites/lawrencewintermeyer/2021/03/10/...

[2]https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Proof_of_work

[3]https://coincentral.com/could-proof-of-stake-mend-bitcoins-e...

I don't think your comment implies what you think it implies.

The wasted energy there is taking about inefficiencies in electronics and motors in general.

Mining BTC is not 100% efficient either. If it was, the mining hardware wouldn't get hot, and it does get hot.

So mining operations are producing a ton of waste heat as well.

The most direct "whataboutism" this morning.

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