比特幣礦工正在從加密貨幣的歷史高點中獲利，但環境成本正在上升

比特幣價格的飆升為比特幣礦工創造了一個獎勵結構，讓他們可以使用更多的資源來尋求更多的財富。

Bitcoin miners are facing pressure to use renewable energy as the cryptocurrency’s soaring price is leading to increased energy consumption.

由於加密貨幣價格飆升導致能源消耗增加，比特幣礦工面臨使用再生能源的壓力。

A surge in the bitcoin price creates a rewards structure for bitcoin miners to use more resources to seek even more riches. They get paid in the currency, and higher demand makes each new find more valuable and enticing.

比特幣價格的飆升為比特幣礦工創造了一個獎勵結構，讓他們可以使用更多的資源來尋求更多的財富。他們以貨幣支付報酬，更高的需求使每個新發現更有價值和誘人。

“Miners can make a lot of money because price is running much faster than miners’ ability to add capacity,” Fred Thiel, Thiel, CEO of bitcoin mining giant Mara Holdings, formerly Marathon Digital Holdings, told Marketplace. Even as the excitement tapers off, don’t expect mining to slow down. The crypto community is optimistic about the Trump administration’s desire to acquiesce to miners’ needs.

比特幣礦業巨頭 Mara Holdings（前身為 Marathon Digital Holdings）執行長 Fred Thiel 告訴 Marketplace：“礦商可以賺很多錢，因為價格運行速度遠遠快於礦商增加產能的能力。”即使興奮逐漸減弱，也不要指望採礦業會放緩。加密社群對川普政府默許礦工需求的願望持樂觀態度。

But bitcoin mining requires an enormous amount of computing power. In fact, it uses more energy than entire countries, including Poland and Egypt, per a University of Cambridge analysis.

但比特幣挖礦需要大量的運算能力。事實上，根據劍橋大學的分析，它使用的能源比整個國家（包括波蘭和埃及）還要多。

As the world’s climate changes at an alarming pace, with this year seeing record-high global temperatures and devastating hurricanes making landfall, burning dirty energy and polluting Earth with gases such as planet-heating methane is only adding to the problem.

隨著世界氣候以驚人的速度變化，今年全球氣溫創歷史新高，毀滅性颶風登陸，燃燒骯髒的能源並用加熱地球的甲烷等氣體污染地球，只會加劇問題。

Bitcoin mining is not alone in using an enormous amount of energy for computing processes. Artificial intelligence, including ChatGPT, is another energy hog and competes for the same energy at data centers. That development can be especially concerning when those energy demands lead to a renewed reliance on dirty energy.

比特幣挖礦並不是唯一在計算過程中使用大量能源的行為。包括 ChatGPT 在內的人工智慧是另一個能源消耗大戶，它們在資料中心爭奪同樣的能源。當這些能源需求導致人們重新依賴骯髒能源時，這種發展尤其令人擔憂。

“It’s taking … gas plants that have actually been shuttered and bringing them back online just for the purposes of cryptocurrency mining,” environmental policy advocate Liz Moran said.

環境政策倡導者利茲·莫蘭 (Liz Moran) 表示：“為了加密貨幣挖礦的目的，我們正在關閉……實際上已經關閉的天然氣工廠，並將其重新投入運行。”

For one thing, there is ample resistance to bitcoin mining throughout the world. Local residents can make their voices heard and advocate for bans outside of operations that rely solely on renewable energy, which has at least become more common among professional mining companies.

一方面，世界各地對比特幣挖礦有著很大的阻力。當地居民可以發出自己的聲音，並倡導禁止完全依賴再生能源的業務，這至少在專業礦業公司中變得越來越普遍。

Bans can be counterproductive if bitcoin miners are tapping into clean energy sources and will then move to areas where coal or natural gas could sub in.

如果比特幣礦商正在利用清潔能源，然後轉移到煤炭或天然氣可能進入的地區，那麼禁令可能會適得其反。

Thus, there are large efforts pushing bitcoin and AI companies to tap into cleaner energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydro — especially if the last can be done through wave energy rather than creating new dams. In the case of AI, Microsoft took the drastic step of reopening a part of the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear power plant — which is cleaner in the sense of air pollution, though there is still nuclear waste byproduct to contend with. Japan, meanwhile, has taken the lead in using excess wind and solar energy to power mining.

因此，人們正在大力推動比特幣和人工智慧公司利用太陽能、風能和水力等清潔能源——特別是如果最後一種能源可以透過波浪能而不是建造新的水壩來實現的話。就人工智慧而言，微軟採取了重大舉措，重新開放了臭名昭著的三哩島核電廠的一部分——從空氣污染的意義上來說，該核電廠更清潔，儘管仍有核廢料副產品需要處理。同時，日本率先利用過剩的風能和太陽能為採礦業提供動力。

Another solution is creating more accountability for miners, which the Energy Information Administration has pursued.

另一個解決方案是為礦工建立更多的責任，這是美國能源資訊管理局所追求的。