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The whole global economy relies on shifting stuff around using mainly ships.
Grains, raw materials, trillions of tons of useless shit we buy every birthday, Christmas, whatever. Some useful shit. We also haul a lot of humans around the world all the time.
Imagine a world where all this physical shit was digital. The whole world, running on electricity, no more humans hauling arse, no more cheap Chinese produce circling the world. There is a jigsaw puzzle of manufacturing, agricultural and financial innovation needed to reach this point, but I'd imagine once we get there it will hugely reduce energy consumption.
Bitcoin can be spun in many ways. The global financial infrastructure is so expansive and energy intensive. Offices, people, commutes, lighting, computers, media, stationary, and millions of other things and activities and the entire network of consumption that radiates from each thing. Imagine automating that all away.
As an aside, this week is Black Friday. Look at Amazon and the rampant consumption of stuff that will be in landfill in a year. Ask yourself why the media isn't attacking an absolute mountain of energy waste there that would dwarf Bitcoin's.
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Invent
Just read the full paper. Its really powerful stuff.
Apparently Bitcoin has the same electronic waste output as the Netherlands. Which is really depressing, that something as inefficient and wasteful as Bitcoin is only on a level with one European nation.
Similarly, I learned recently that Bitcoin's overall power consumption is under half of the energy used by inactive home appliances in standby mode...in just the United States.
I hope you guys aren't interpreting this as whataboutism from me, this is more me despairing at the state of our species!