Environmental Impact of Blockchain
The following resources focus on the environmental impact of blockchains including background to this criticism and examples of approaches to making greener NFTs.
Slide from left to right to browse the different columns in the table.
| Resource | Summary | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
The Unreasonable Ecological Cost of #CryptoArt by Memo Akten (December 2021) | Examines the impact of crypto art on the environment from ‘one perspective’ | EnvironmentCriticismNews | |
A Bitcoin Mining Operation in the Finger Lakes Runs Up Against New York’s Climate Law, by Rosemay Misdary, Gohamist (February 2022) | Article on the Finger Lake’s bitcoin mining operation which faces challenges to New York’s climate leadership and community protection act. | NewsEnvironmentCriticism | |
Blockchain, climate damage, and death: Policy interventions to reduce the carbon emissions, mortality, and net-zero implications of non-fungible tokens and Bitcoin by Jon Truby, Rafael Brown, Andrew Dahdal & Imad Ibraham (2022) | Paper investigating the impact of blockchain on carbon emissions, offers interesting correlation between gas usage and deaths | EnvironmentCriticismNews | |
Clean NFTs | CleanNFTs is a phrase that a community of over 2000 artists from around the world use to describe NFTs from platforms offering Proof of Stake cryptocurrencies | EnvironmentNFTsNews | |
EndGame Podcast with Vitalik Buterin | Podcast with guest Vitalik Buterin, one of the founders on Ethereum discussing the future of Ethereum | EnvironmentNews | |
Episode V. Toward a New Ecology of Crypto Art: A Hybrid Manifesto by Memo Akten, Alice Bucknell, Geert Lovink, Primavera De Filippi, Jason Bailey, Chloe Diamond, Casey Reas, Fanny Lakoubay, Beth Jochim & Alex Estorick | A response to the environmental cost of crypto art by artists, activists and theorists | CriticismEnvironmentBackground | |
Impact Tokens: A blockchain-based solution for impact investing report by David Uzsoki and Patrick Guerdat, International Institute for Sustainable Development (April 2019) | This paper looks at some of the key characteristics of impact tokens; how they can be applied
in sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, education or energy; how they can provide verified proof
of impact for investors; and ultimately how they can address each of the five barriers to upscaling impact investing. | NewsEnvironment | |
Is Bitcoin Really That Bad for the Environment? by Martin Leo Rivers, Forbes (April 2022). | This article discusses the environmental impact of Bitcoin and argues that Bitcoin should not be disregarded purely for its environmental impact. | NewsEnvironment | |
NFTs, Cryptocurrency, and Museum Practice, Elizabeth Merritt, AAM (March 2022) | Reflections on NFTs, where crypto democratises art and wealth, and considers the environmental impact of blockchain | NewsNFTsFundraisingBackgroundCriticismEnvironment | |
Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake: The Ecological Footprint by Tezos, Medium (March 2021) | An short blog comparing Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tezos in terms of energy consumption | EnvironmentNews | |
Tezos Life Cycle Assessment Report | PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory SAS analyses the actual carbon footprint of nodes on the Tezos network | EnvironmentNews | |
The British Museum’s NFT Project has Sent its Carbon Footprint Soaring, by Bendor Grosvenor, The Arts Newspaper (April 2022) | Discusses the impact of the BM’s NFT project in relation to its sustainability policy. | Museum ExampleCriticismNFTsNewsEnvironment | |
The Carbon Footprint of Creating and Selling an NFT Artwork, by Erin Davis, Quartz (March 2021) | Details on the carbon emissions of NFTs compared to a print | EnvironmentNewsCriticismNFTs | |
The Problem of (Ethereum) Crypto Art by Joanie Lemercier (February 2021) | Covers the impact of energy consumption for an artist drop on Niftygateway | EnvironmentCriticismNews | |
What Art NFTs Anyway? by Wassim Alsindi, Right Click Save (February 2022) | Article providing an overview of NFTs | NewsNFTsGetting StartedBackgroundEnvironment |