Focus on Arts and Ecology

 The big environmental stories in the Chinese media (February 26-4 March)

No cryptocurrency mining activities will be allowed in Inner Mongolia after April 2021, according to a draft policy document issued by the provincial government and obtained by Caixin this week. 
 
The document cites Inner Mongolia’s tightening energy consumption targets as the major reason. In 2021 Inner Mongolia is expected to further lower its energy intensity per unit of GDP by 3%, as well as to cap the increase of its total energy consumption at 5 million tons of standard coal equivalent. These two targets are broken down and set individually for all provinces at the beginning of each Five Year Plan cycle. They are the main policy instruments the central government uses to drive the country’s low carbon transition.
 
Cryptocurrency mining consumes a large amount of computing power and electricity to generate high value digital currencies such as Bitcoin. It has long attracted the ire of China’s energy regulators. In 2019, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top industrial policy maker, listed cryptocurrency mining as an industry that should be phased out. 
 
According to Caixin, about 60% of the world’s computing power for cryptocurrency mining is located in China, with 7% of that in Inner Mongolia. The rest is spread out in energy-rich provinces such as Xinjiang, Sichuan and Yunnan, where operations have easy access to cheap energy. Bitcoin’s skyrocketing value in recent months is adding fuel to the fire.
 
Inner Mongolia’s move may also reflect pressure from the central government. According to Chinese media reports, the province is one of the few that have struggled to meet their energy intensity targets under the 13th Five Year Plan (2015-2020), and it has received warning from the National Development and Reform Commission.
 
Read China Dialogue’s earlier coverage on the issue of blockchain’s energy use.

(Sources: China Dialogue)