暗号資産のマイニングの電力使用は決して小さくない

先週2月1日付けの米国エネルギー情報局 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) から、"Tracking electricity consumption from U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations" と題する分析 IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS が公表されています。長くなりますが、EIAのサイトから冒頭4パラのサマリを引用すると以下の通りです。

Summary
Electricity demand associated with U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations in the United States has grown very rapidly over the last several years. Our preliminary estimates suggest that annual electricity use from cryptocurrency mining probably represents from 0.6% to 2.3% of U.S. electricity consumption.
This additional electricity use has drawn the attention of policymakers and grid planners concerned about its effects on cost, reliability, and emissions. Key challenges associated with tracking cryptocurrency mining energy use include the difficulty of identifying cryptocurrency mining activity among millions of U.S. end-use customers and the dynamic nature of the crypto market, where mining assets can be moved rapidly to areas with lower electricity prices.
We have developed general estimates of electricity use by U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations by employing both top-down and bottom-up approaches. Our top-down approach involves data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, which maintains an index that estimates global and national electricity use from cryptocurrency activities. We also developed our own bottom-up approach, which involves collecting data pertaining to the location of individual cryptocurrency mining operations and the amount of electricity each facility says it may use.
In order to develop more rigorous estimates of electricity use by U.S. cryptocurrency miners, we have requested and received an emergency clearance pursuant to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 CFR Part 1320, Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public. We plan to begin collecting data on a monthly basis from February through July 2024.

サマリ1パラ目にある通り、米国における暗号資産(仮想通貨)のマイニング事業に関連する電力需要は、ここ数年で急速に増加していて、EIAによる推定では、おそらく、暗号資産(仮想通貨)のマイニングによる年間電力使用量は米国の電力消費量の0.6%から2.3%に相当する、ということのようです。下のグラフは、EIAのサイトから Annual electricity generation at five select poer plants with crypt-mining operations (2015-2022) を引用しています。

はい。まったく意味のない電力消費だと私は思います。暗号資産のマイニングは禁止するに値するという意見に私は同意します。強く同意します。