Harvard-led Study Reveals Bitcoin Mining Spreads Air Pollution Interstate

A new study has found that Bitcoin mining produces harmful air pollutants, with fine particles from the facilities crossing state borders, affecting areas far from the mines themselves.

Between August 2022 to July 2023, some 1.9 million Americans were exposed to significant levels of these fine particles, according to researchers behind a groundbreaking study published in Nature Communications.

Communities affected include New York City, the Houston/Austin metropolitan area, Northeast Texas, and areas along the Illinois/Kentucky border.

“Cross-state pollution”

The research team, led by Dr. Francesca Dominici at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found that Bitcoin mines frequently cause increased electricity production from fossil fuel power plants.

Compiling data from the 34 largest Bitcoin mines operating in the U.S., the researchers claimed that a Bitcoin mine in one state can trigger a power plant in another to burn more coal or gas, sending pollution to another state entirely.

This creates a frustrating situation for those affected.

For example, electricity consumed by a mine in North Carolina induced operations at a coal-fired plant in Kentucky, which then affected air quality in Illinois—with residents having no immediate recourse against either the mine or the power plant.

But because affected areas are not from the same state where the pollutants originate, this situation produces a regulatory gap.

A number of “possible policy mechanisms” could help ease the challenge of “cross-state pollution,” Dr. Scott Delaney, one of the authors, told Decrypt in an email interview. “But these policies require Federal action.”

Dr. Delaney specifically suggests the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could issue a “Good Neighbor” rule for PM2.5 (fine particles) air pollution.

Such a rule would require upwind states to control power plant emissions more aggressively. Programs that incentivize responsible siting of mining facilities and data centers could also be launched to lessen negative health effects, Delaney suggested.

Crypto and beyond

The study’s findings also apply beyond just crypto.

Last month, Decrypt reported a decline in earnings among publicly-traded Bitcoin mining firms.

This trend has led some of those miners to pivot from crypto to AI.

“Bitcoin mines and AI infrastructure both require large data centers, and much of the equipment used to mine Bitcoin tokens can be repurposed for other applications,” Delaney explained.

The study comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has spurred momentum in support of the crypto industry.

On the campaign trail to his second term, Trump met with Bitcoin miners and said he wants all Bitcoin to be made in America.

Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order to boost coal production in the country.

The researchers behind the study warned that the continued expansion of Bitcoin mining, along with AI infrastructure, could have dire environmental consequences.

If the U.S. pursues policies that keep coal-fired power plants online beyond their planned retirement, the researchers told Decrypt, “the pollution they produce will be even more toxic.”