>I wonder if decentralizing the hardware into people's homes or putting it in very cold places that need to generate heat during winter would be a way to cut down on some of the excessive waste of energy and thus emissions.
This is already being done, especially the latter, in part because cooling is cheaper in cooler climes. Also some geothermal power is cheaper as well.
And, anecdotally, I know at least two people who have installed bitcoin mining farms under their floorboards and use them to heat the house in the winter. I assume there are more.
This is already being done, especially the latter, in part because cooling is cheaper in cooler climes. Also some geothermal power is cheaper as well.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/13/how-iceland-be...
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-miners-nordic-region-...
And, anecdotally, I know at least two people who have installed bitcoin mining farms under their floorboards and use them to heat the house in the winter. I assume there are more.