'network is burning so much electricity' that kinda concerns me about the impact on the planet we live on rather than the freedom from the financial data silos, seems backwards. hope we can swap out the algorythm to be more energy efficient like DPOS and our beloved steem.
The cost of electricity is going down as solar energy becomes more efficient and widespread. In a couple of decades energy will not be an issue anymore.
http://fortune.com/2016/04/16/ray-kurzweil-solar-will-dominate-energy-within-12-years/
Visualized in a graph:
decades? i heard 2020, two years. it's gonna be a problem - in terms of global power usage alone for bitcoin. that kinda defeats the purpose if we are killing ourselves in the process? :) - i guess it's all about sources right? who you trust and when.
Bitcoins energy consumption is a problem now, and has been for awhile, but it will go away, when electricity no longer comes from fossil fuels.
There is an opportunity cost, over and above the cost of diverting electricity to the BTC network. That energy could have been used elsewhere.
this is definitely FUD. media is calling out the environmentally concerned public to defame crypto. pretending that humans can't come up with solutions to this via software, hardware, and science breakthroughs is just silly. as blockchain has demonstrated we no longer need corp/gov permission to advance our civilization. perhaps they should stand aside and allow free energy to be released... ;)
nothing is free. and this is not to defame anything. i think blockchain is amazing but everything has a cause and effect. it would be good to not add to existing problems. no such things as a free ride!
how about putting some solar panels in Africa's deserts to start? also highly suggest everyone dyor on alternative energy/electrical systems, they have been around a while. Nikola Tesla is a good place to start. his was another mind that believed in the liberation and endless potential of mankind. he would love blockchain. :)
if you want to see it. go do it. then steem about it. it's all well and good having the information you find, execution is just as important. go do it. talk about it. let people lead from your example.