Latest: 9 Myths About Bitcoin Energy Use Challenged By Data, Esg Expert Says

ESG researcher Daniel Batten says peer-reviewed studies challenge claims that Bitcoin mining destabilizes power grids or raises electricity costs.

Bitcoin’s environmental impact remains contested as critics question its energy use, while ESG researcher Daniel Batten disputes several of those claims.

In a Saturday X thread, ESG researcher Daniel Batten said nine common criticisms of Bitcoin mining’s energy use are contradicted by peer-reviewed studies and grid-level data.

“Every nascent disruptive technology is accompanied by claims that are based on lack of understanding, lack of data, and a fear of something unknown,” said Batten.

In November, the Dow Jones lambasted Harvard University for investing some of its endowment in BTC, labelling it as a “fake currency and money-laundering tool that is also an environmental catastrophe.“

In July, Bloomberg claimed that Bitcoin “devours the electricity meant for the world’s poor.”

Some environmental researchers dispute these conclusions, arguing that indirect emissions and opportunity costs linked to mining remain difficult to quantify.

The premise that Bitcoin consumes a lot of energy, water, and e-waste per transaction is simply “not true,” he said.

Batten argues this has already been debunked by four peer-reviewed studies concluding that resource use is independent of transaction volume.

Batten cited peer-reviewed research summarized in the University of Cambridge’s 2025 Digital Mining Industry Report, which found Bitcoin’s energy use is largely independent of transaction volume. “This means that Bitcoin transaction volume can scale without increasing resource use.”

Source: CoinTelegraph