ChainCatcher reported that according to Bitcoin.com, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a blog post this week written by Shafik Hebous, deputy director of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, and another economist, Nate Vernon-Lin.
The authors highlight the environmental challenges posed by crypto mining and artificial intelligence data centers, noting that these sectors already account for 2% of global electricity consumption. “This share could climb to 3.5% within three years, according to our estimates based on International Energy Agency forecasts,” they added.
The report warns that this increasing energy use could push crypto mining’s contribution to global carbon emissions to 0.7% by 2027, stressing: “Extending the analysis to data centers (according to IEA estimates) means that carbon emissions from these sectors could reach 450 million tons by 2027, or 1.2% of the world’s total.”
To address this, Hebous and Vernon-Lin proposed targeted electricity taxes, “Tax systems are one way to induce companies to reduce emissions. Based on IMF estimates, a direct tax of $0.047 per kilowatt-hour would push the cryptocurrency mining industry to curb its emissions in line with global targets.”
However, critics argue that these taxes could seriously hinder the development of the crypto industry. In addition, some studies have also shown that the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining is still relatively small compared to other major industries such as e-commerce or traditional finance.
