To better understand the environmental consequences of blockchain technology, US House legislators have requested information from four crypto mining companies. This week, four crypto mining companies received letters from House legislators inquiring about the environmental impact of proof-of-work operations.
On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote to Core Scientific, Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Blockchain, Inc., and Stronghold Digital Mining. The committee is investigating the impact of proof of work on emissions and “excess electronic waste.”
The action comes as Washington regulators investigate cryptocurrency in the aftermath of this summer’s market crisis. Furthermore, Ethereum is anticipated to merge its proof-of-work and proof-of-stake blockchains next month. The committee letter to Stronghold Digital Mining reads:
“While we understand that blockchain technology holds immense promise that could make our personal information more secure and economy more efficient, the energy consumption and hardware required to support PoW-based cryptocurrencies may, in some instances, produce severe externalities in the form of harmful emissions and excess electronic waste (e-waste),”.
The letter was signed by committee head Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., as well as Reps. Bobby Rush, Diana DeGette, and Paul Tonko.
The committee wanted to know how much energy each company’s mining operations used in 2021, what energy sources they used, and what percentage of energy was offset by renewable energy credits.
The congressmen also inquired about how many days the firms reduced crypto mining to maintain grid stability in the previous 12 months, as well as the average cost per megawatt hour and profit per megawatt hour at each site.
Another group of officials requested the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency last month to force miners to provide data on emissions and energy consumption.
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