Miami Mayor Floats Idea to Curb Carbon Footprint of Bitcoin Miners

The city of Miami recently approved a new cryptocurrency called Miami Coin, and now Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, has proposed the setting up of Bitcoin mining facilities near the Turkey Point nuclear power plant located in the south side of Florida to avoid the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining based on non-renewable energy. In 2019, a study by scientific journal Joule said that Bitcoin production is estimated to generate between 22 and 22.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year in the near future.

Suarez floated the idea on Tuesday, September 28, as per a press release. According to the release, the city of Miami has approved accessing around $5 million (roughly Rs. 37 crores) worth of Miami Coin (MIA), which runs on Bitcoin technology.

The city hopes that mining will pick up pace in and around Miami – but this, in turn, will lead to high energy consumption too.

This has nudged Suarez to offer to establish Bitcoin mining facilities near the nuclear power plant.

As per the news website Latest News Today, nuclear energy is on the brink of being recognised as a true environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) solution in terms of energy.

The development comes ahead of a mega crypto event called “Bitcoin 2022” that Miami is set to host in April next year. As per its official page, this will be the world’s largest conference focused on the world’s most-valued cryptocurrency, Bitcoin which is trading at over Rs. 34 lakh (roughly over $46,000) as per the Gadgets 360 tracker at the time of writing.

The massive energy consumption required by mass-level crypto trading and its effects on greenhouse gas emissions has been concern-worthy for many nations including China, Russia, and Morocco among others.

---