- Buncombe County may legislate a moratorium focused on crypto mining.
- Crypto mining operations produce harsh sounds above 70 decibels.
Crypto critics have raised dozens of concerns about crypto mining and its negative impacts like excessive energy consumption, releasing harmful gases and producing unbearable noise between 70-90 decibels.
Crypto mining consumes a massive amount of energy. According to Bitcoin Mining Council, 58% of the energy used to mine Bitcoin in the fourth quarter of 2022 was produced from green energy.
According to Buncombe County claims, Bitcoin mining has several negative impacts, such as massive consumption of Energy, producing e-waste, greenhouse gas emission and noise produced by mining equipment during the process.
According to a European media outlet ASIC, including other machines, collectively produce noise above 50 decibels equal to the sound produced by a mixer or an ordinary vacuum cleaner.
The county noted that they want to prevent these consequences from affecting the surrounding and its people. Moreover, they want the authorities to pass the order to halt crypto mining because it does not lie in their zoning laws. They demanded a one-year moratorium on crypto, allowing them to amend their zoning laws.
For the past few years, citizens of Buncombe County and its surrounding areas have filed several complaints against the issue to EPA. According to dozens of complaints, a Coal-fired power plant is producing harmful gases and toxic wastewater dispensed in water bodies; for this reason, citizens are demanding tighter regulations.
In 2018 environmental experts researched the issue and found alarming Radioactive energy in the locality of the Duke Energy plant in Asheville.
Lisa Evans, the Senior administrative counsel at environmental group Earthjustice, stated in her statement while talking with an international media outlet, “Asheville has the highest level of radium presence compared to any other site she researched so far.”
As per the reports of WFAE, an international media outlet, Duke Coal-powered energy plants plan to halt their coal operation and shift towards green energy by the end of 2035.
Besides crypto mining, several other sources are affecting the environment by emitting harmful gases like Carbon Monoxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, and Carbon dioxide, and several others.
If regulators of any specified country or region structure any rule to halt mining operations, those rules should apply to all other industries harming the environment in a similar ratio.
The global crypto mining industry is segmented into numerous factors, including components, revenue source, mining enterprise, application, and geography. The economics of crypto mining comprises cryptocurrency prices, mining difficulty, hardware costs, energy expenses, block rewards and transaction fees.
The cryptocurrency mining expenses can be dependent on different categories, including hardware costs, energy expenses, cooling costs, maintenance and repair costs, and transaction fees.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions stated by the author, or any people named in this article, are for informational ideas only and do not establish financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading crypto or stock comes with a risk of financial loss.
Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/04/09/is-n-carolina-to-implement-harder-crypto-mining-regulations/