As NFT’s secure their place as a mainstream part of the art world and cultural zeitgeist, there has been one core argument against the transition to blockchain technology: it’s bad for the planet. This concern is not without merit, with a study estimating that carbon emissions from Bitcoin blockchain operations in China are expected to peak in 2024 and generate more than 130.5 million metric tons of carbon emissions that year alone.

While Elon Musk recently said Tesla has halted purchases of vehicles with bitcoin due to concerns over the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining,” he also endorsed a Tweet outlining how bitcoin incentivizes renewable energy. In the Tweet, Square Crypto wrote that solar energy is cheaper to produce than fossil fuels but it also produces too much energy when demand is low and not enough when demand is high. 

“What can fix this problem is an ecosystem where solar/wind, batteries, and bitcoin mining co-exist to form a green grid that runs almost exclusively on renewable energy,” the thread outlined. 

While cryptocurrency uses more energy than entire countries such as Sweden and Malaysia, according to researchers, it’s also a rapidly developing area that’s only recently gained popularity. This means that the environmental concerns are valid, but have many variables. 

The first being that not all blockchain technologies have the same environmental impact. Wax blockchain, for example, the world’s first blockchain-based carbon impact NFT for consumers, is 125,000 times more energy-efficient than Ethereum and WAX is already carbon neutral. 

There’s also a new bitcoin called Chia that’s being branded as the "green" cryptocurrency. Chia relies on empty computer storage space for its process, instead of energy-intensive processes that Ethereum and Bitcoin use.

As blockchain technology becomes more mainstream, so too will the awareness of e-waste. As with all industries, the environmental impact of blockchain is concerning but not a hard and fast rule for all technologies. In the meantime, Ethereum’s energy consumption has risen, consuming 46 terawatt hours of energy (which is as much as Hong Kong), calling for more carbon-neutral future cryptocurrencies to take its place.

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