The title is "Bitcoin gobbles up clean energy — just when the real world needs it most". I contend that the article is misrepresenting several things. Allow me to explain.
So depending on which hardware is being used, the numbers are vastly different. Media usually assumes the worst case numbers. So the assertion that it "gobbles up" power implies it is more wasteful than it probably is.
the power used is required to secure and run a world wide financial and settlement network. It's a network that provides freedom to literally millions of people that can't get bank accounts or are exploited by banking costs (read: remittances). The cost for bitcoin...
How do you get that number?The average power-cost of mining a block divided by the average number of transactions in a block?
If so, you're listing the average cost, not the marginal cost of a transaction. Which is misleading, because the block's being mined anyway