Everyone has heard of cryptocurrencies and whilst most don't understand much about this new fangled currency, almost everyone knows that 'mining' them is very bad for the planet because of the carbon emissions they generate.
Indeed, Bitcoin - just one of the many cryptocurrencies - already consumes as much energy as Sweden, according to some reports, and its booming popularity is revitalizing failing fossil fuel enterprises in the US. But all that could change with a simple switch in the way it is coded, according to a new campaign.
The campaign, called Change the Code Not the Climate, coordinated by several environmental groups, is calling on bitcoin to change the way bitcoins are mined in order to tackle its outsized carbon footprint, claiming that this could reduce it by a whopping 99 percent.
The software code that bitcoin currently uses – known as “proof of work” – requires the use of massive 'climate damaging' computer arrays to validate and secure transactions.
Rival cryptocurrency etherium is shifting to another system – “proof of stake” – that it also believes will reduce its energy use by 99 percent.
Whilst this good news may not improve your comprehension of how cryptocurrencies function from a monetary perspective, at least it will give you a warm glow that it's carbon footprint may shortly be just 1 percent of what it was.