Bitcoin consumes more electricity than Argentina

[Hobosapien]

I read somewhere that lots of mining companies are based near some hydro electric dam in the USA where electricity is cheap as chips

Aye, the indicator of bitcoin power usage is handy for showing the percentage of green energy used worldwide as it is only cost effective to mine bitcoin where electricity is cheap, and it's only cheap where not reliant on fossil fuels.

Except for China, but the world gives them a free pass on their coal usage in return for cheap tat container shipments.

Does Iceland export any spare leccy like Russia does with its gas? Seems as feasible as building those solar farms in Africa to ship the leccy where countries will pay more for it.

So 'bitcoin consumes more energy than ...' is a moot point if the energy is mostly 'green' anyway and isn't reducing the amount of 'green' energy available elsewhere.

[AtW]

It’s only cheap where they got fossil fuels they can’t export for real money - Iran, China (coal)

[Hobosapien]

It’s only cheap where they got fossil fuels they can’t export for real money - Iran, China (coal)

They can get around that by using their fossil fuels to create hydrogen, fully charged batteries, or other en vogue 'green' power sources for export.

Like leccy cars seen as green when the leccy to power them still relies on fossil fuels to produce the leccy.

Electricity generation | Energy UK

Most of the UK’s electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels, mainly natural gas (42% in 2016) and coal (9% in 2016). A very small amount is produced from other fuels (3.1% in 2016). The volume of electricity generated by coal and gas-fired power stations changes each year, with some switching between the two depending on fuel prices.