I’ve railed against the wasteful and dumb use of water before. These days, the tech billionaires and the administration actively promote cryptocurrencies and other wasteful uses of water. A single bit-coin transaction can use 6.2 million times more water than a credit card swipe. Why? Electricity, power demands.

Electric demand in the US is expected to increase by over 75% in the next 25 years. Much of that demand will come from crypto-mining and data centers. Another chunk will come from rising temperatures resulting in longer cooling seasons and higher cooling loads (climate change). So, what does that have to do with water?

We are still using technology from the mid-20th century to generate electricity. Turbines driven by steam, created by superheating water. On average 2.0 gallons of freshwater are consumed to generate one kWh of electricity. The exception, of course, is hydro-electric dams/turbines. Here’s the average breakdown:

· Water Used in Coal Fired Power Plant to Generate One MWh: 35,000 gal

· Water Used in Nuclear Power Plant to Generate One MWh: 2,200 gal

· Water Used in Gas Fired Power Plant to Generate One MWh: 2,800 gal

The energy needed to mine one bitcoin has been estimated to conservatively require 155 MWh, about the amount of energy a single family residence uses over 50 days. So, if the mining of a single bitcoin consumes the same amount of water as 6-7 homes in a year, how responsible (or irresponsible) is it to promote and partake in crypto-currencies?

Cryptocurrencies produce no independent tangible benefit. They are just another currency, just another investment vehicle. A wasteful footprint the world cannot afford. I’m an optimist. I suspect that if people knew these facts, they would choose not to delve into cryptocurrencies.