Issue 80: Cryptocurrency’s Wasteful Energy Consumption and an Ode to Interlibrary Loan

Issue 80: Cryptocurrency’s Wasteful Energy Consumption and an Ode to Interlibrary Loan

Welcome to issue 80 of Thursday Threads.
I’m so happy many of you chose to stick around and greetings to all of the new subscribers.
To those that received my email last Thursday giving you a heads-up that a new issue would be coming to your inbox but then didn’t receive it: check your spam folder.
Over the course of the week, I’ve learned a great deal more about the spam-prevention mechanisms that are keeping our inboxes as clean as they are.
I highly recommend the
interactive ‘Learn and Test DMARC’
site sponsored by URIPorts.
It was useful to see several standards come together to ensure email senders are who they say they are.
(If you find this issue in your spam folder, please reply so I can track down more of the causes.)
Two threads this week:
Cryptocurrency’s Energy Consumption
Ode to Interlibrary Loan
On a professional note, my employer is looking for a
FOLIO Services Analyst
to join our growing effort bringing the FOLIO open source platform to libraries around the world.
If getting in on the ground floor of a revolution in library technology sounds appealing, check out the job description at the link above.
Feel free to send this newsletter to others you think might be interested in the topics. If you are not already subscribed to
DLTJ’s Thursday Threads
, visit the
sign-up page
.
If you would like a more raw and immediate version of these types of stories,
follow me on
Mastodon
where I post the bookmarks I save. Comments and tips, as always, are welcome.
Cryptocurrency’s Energy Consumption
Kosovo’s government on Tuesday introduced a ban on cryptocurrency mining in an attempt to curb electricity consumption as the country faces the worst energy crisis in a decade due to production outages.
—
Kosovo bans cryptocurrency mining to save electricity
Reuters, 5-Jan-2022
An army of cryptocurrency miners heading to the state for its cheap power and laissez-faire regulation is forecast to send demand soaring by as much as 5,000 megawatts over the next two years. The crypto migration to Texas has been building for months, but the sheer volume of power those miners will need — two times more than the capital city of almost 1 million people consumed in all of 2020 — is only now becoming clear.
—
Texas Plans to Become the U.S. Bitcoin Capital. Can Its Grid, Ercot, Handle It?
Bloomberg, 19-Nov-2021
Tape Pile
, by SidewaysSarah, CC-By
One thread that I already anticipate will be covered on many Thursdays is the growing cryptocurrency problem.
In this edition: how cryptocurrencies are a waste of resources.
A brief introduction, in case you haven’t encountered this technology yet, goes like this: cryptocurrencies are tokens of value that are exchanged on a «blockchain».
A blockchain, in turn, is like a strip of calculator tape…once something is printed on it, it doesn’t come off and it is there for everyone to see.
Cryptocurrencies need «miners» to do th…