NFTs (or Non Fungible Tokens) are something that have taken the internet by storm recently, with multiple celebrities like Post Malone and Shaq using the pricy images as their profile pictures on twitter. These “pieces of digital art” have been extremely polarizing recently due to their hefty price tag for something that is essentially an image associated with a cryptocurrency “token”. However, there is a much larger reason to dislike this internet craze, the heavy carbon emission toll they take in order to be created.
For example, one NFT entitled “space cat”, a simple gif of a cat riding a rocket into space, is responsible for as much carbon emissions as an EU resident’s electricity usage for 2 months. NFT’s are purchased in online marketplaces using a cryptocurrency called Ethereum. This digital currency uses a system entitled “Proof of work” that uses an incredible amount of energy. Proof of work is a system in which the currency is mined, using machines to solve complex problems. These complex problems require an extensive amount of energy in order to be solved.
Currently there are less energy intensive methods of buying an trading these expensive pieces of “art” however they much less common. NFTs sold by the NBA use a cryptocurrency called Flow which is much less energy intensive to be produced. The creators of Ethereum have been promising to adapt and use a much less energy intensive source of production, however it has been years since they stated this and there is no change in sight.
If you are like my and you strongly dislike these gaudy expensive jpegs that have been circulating the internet recently, you now have another reason to despise NFTs, their heavy environmental toll.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/15/22328203/nft-cryptoart-ethereum-blockchain-climate-change
NFTs are super interesting to me. I have just gotten into crypto investing this past year and NTFs are the new big craze. I have not gotten into any, because I think it is too new and your concerns are very valid. Other than purchasing NFTs, how is it for making NTFs?
I think that creating an NFT from just a scene from a show is not okay. However, I think that digital art made can be sold as an NFT for sure. It’s a very odd fine line to be walking but what I found was the most interesting was COST of uploading 1 NFT. Depending on how much you list it for, it can cost upwards of 1,000 dollars to publish an NFT to the blockchain.
Why so much? And why so many gas fees? Those are questions I keep asking myself when it comes to NFTs. It is too new, and its too easy to “steal” and NFT. A simple screenshot can challenge the value of an NFT. I think that there should be a program attached similar to how hulu or netflix wont let you share screens while playing video to NFTs. Make it so it is impossible to screenshot an NFT or save one unless you have the specific NFT file. So maybe these JPGs should be a new file format? .NFT? And could it be implemented?
source(s): https://opensea.io/
I’ve been hearing about NFTs for weeks and it wasn’t until your article that I realized that there was an environmental toll to it all. I seriously had to reread your sentences a few times to try and correlate the ideas and I am still semi-confused. I never saw the appeal in paying for a picture that I could easily screenshot…and the only gain is releasing carbon emissions into the environment? Sorry I may still be off here.
I just read that ‘Bitcoin’ mining already creates 38 millions tons of CO2 emissions every year and I can only imagine how that has skyrocketed due to this trend. This will continue to contribute to global warming. I feel like this would be only the first step on a long path of making things more extreme. It has to be a matter of time until it turns into avatars or names or something else.
In a way I understand the stylistic entitlement to owning one just to say I do, but I would much rather adopt a star or something. You have convinced me that NFTs are bad.
https://brightly.eco/environmental-impact-nfts/
I agree that NFTs make no sense for the amount of money that they are going for, and what the actual point of them are. At the end of the day, it is either a png or a gif, that anyone can go online, find, download, and use (as long as the use is not for profit). Some of these NFTs are going for over $500,000 for a digitally created picture/gif that anyone can download. The amount of computing power necessary to mine that much ETH or Flow like you mentioned above, is so harmful for the environment that it will never make sense to me. You could make the argument that you could buy the cryptocurrency to buy one of these NFTs, but you have to buy the cryptocurrency from someone who has “mined” it based off of how the blockchain works. According to medium.com, bitcoin takes up 152TWh (terrawatt-hour) per year which is roughly 0.65% of the worlds energy consumption, and euthereum takes up about 75TWh. Overall, cryptocurrency in general is a very carbon emitting heavy process and is terrible for the environment, and overall I do not see many positive impact that these cryptocurrencies have on the world.
Source: https://ethereum.org/en/nft/
https://medium.com/gochain/the-truth-about-bitcoin-and-ethereum-energy-consumption-20a325f39b52
I think that what you are talking about is extremely interesting. I also dislike NFT’s, I just cannot understand why people are paying absurd amounts of money for digital, cartoon art that anyone can make. But to add into this that it is harming the environment? I dislike them even more now. I never considered what goes into making digital art and transactions on the internet, but I did not know that it would be using up so much energy and in turn increasing carbon emissions heavily. I think that since NFTs are growing to be a large part of the digital market, that there needs to be regulations on them and their environmental impact, such as requiring NFT makers to use cryptocurrencies low in environmental impact, such as the one that you talked about, Flow.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/10/business/dealbook/crypto-climate.html