The stage is getting hotter for crypto mining activities that use fossil fuels to power their rigs. Of major concern is the sector’s contribution to greenhouse emissions. Although turning to green energy sources helps reduce these emissions, it’s not the only way to save the environment. Cradle to cradle gives cryptocurrency miners another avenue to show their kindness to nature.
What is cradle to cradle?
Cradle to cradle is a design principle that focuses on producing materials that are harmless to the environment. In other words, it requires equipment manufacturers to think of a product’s end during its design phase, in a bid to reduce or eradicate waste. Using this method, a product can be infinitely recycled until its natural death, even in which it’ll be nutrients to the environment. In short, a product needs to be designed in a way that it can be disassembled and reassembled as another product without waste.
For example, a 3D printer can produce items that can be melted and reused to create other items canceling a trip to the dump site.
5 aspects of cradle to cradle
Cradle to cradle stands on four pillars:
- Ability to recycle the materials. This is possible either through the use of recyclable materials or raw materials that are not harmful when released into the environment.
- Less carbon emissions. Manufacturers need to use green energy when producing the parts.
- Prevent water pollution
- Manufacturing processes should have human interest at their center.
The cryptocurrency problem
Statistics show that virtual currency miners produce upwards of 30,000 tonnes of e-waste every year due to obsolete mining rigs and the emission of toxic gasses.
Generally, ASIC miners are projected to last for about 3-5 years, although your machine can last more than this range if used and maintained well enough. It could also break down within a few months if not maintained properly or used in poor conditions.
From: https://minery.io/blog/how-long-do-asics-last
Apart from a shorter lifespan, the launch of new and powerful devices renders the previous generation of miners obsolete. The phenomenon applies to both ASICs (Application-specific Integrated Circuits) and GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). ASICs are used to mine the likes of Bitcoin (BTC) while GPUs can be used on Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Dogecoin among others.
However, ASICs are different from GPUs in that they are built to handle a specific task, unlike GPUs that can take in almost anything thrown their way.
How can cradle to cradle apply to crypto mining
Cradle to cradle can help prevent crypto mining devices from increasing the statistics on e-waste, but not without a huge deviation from the current processes.
Let’s start with ASICs
While ASIC-based crypto mining equipment are tuned for complex cryptographic computations, these devices can be repurposed for other uses when they reach the end of their optimum service life. The chip can be reused to manufacture devices used in areas such as environmental monitoring or any other application that requires targeted computing.
For example, SAITech, a Eurasia-based BTC miner revealed in 2021 that it intends to reuse 90% of its old rigs to power industrial, agricultural, and residential applications. Apart from repurposing an ASIC device’s processor, its other components like the power supply and casing can be stripped and used in other areas.
Then GPUs
GPUs are a little easier to recycle since they’re not as application-specific as ASICs. For instance, the same GPU used in crypto mining can also be used to boost a computer system’s video processing capability without requiring any changes. The interoperability also means parts of the GPUs can be reused to build other GPUs, or use parts like the heatsink to cool other devices.
Is it that simple?
No. Not everyone is willing to spend that extra time or resources to recycle a crypto-mining device once it has reached the end of its service life. One way to work around this problem is to work with device suppliers who encourage buyers to return their obsolete miners for recycling. Manufacturers also need to put their hand in it by producing devices with 100% recyclable parts right from the design stage.
EndlessMining ™ is open to working with cradle to cradle-cautious miners to evaluate how they can keep the environment cleaner. Although not everything in the current breed of crypto mining devices contains recyclable materials it’s important to think of the device’s end during the purchase phase.
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