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In recent years, blockchain technology has become increasingly prevalent across a wide range of industries and applications, from food and beverage to manufacturing to border patrol operations. It’s is being implemented in supply chain monitoring, financial services, Big Data storage, payment processing, and smart contracts. It’s attracted attention from several major companies, including IBM, Walmart, and FedEx, and it’s being touted as one of the biggest tech disruptions of the 21st century.
最近几年，区块链技术在食品饮料、加工制造、边境巡逻行动等广泛的行业和应用中变得越来越普遍。区块链技术正在供应链监控、金融服务、大数据储存、支付审核以及智能合约中得到应用。它吸引了大批包括IBM、沃尔玛和联邦快递等巨头公司的注意力，区块链技术已被吹捧为21世纪最具颠覆性的科技之一。

However, there are some detractors who say that blockchain, partly due to its relationship to the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, has a massively negative impact on the environment. Because of the high energy use involved, for instance, blockchain can have a surprisingly high carbon footprint. But on the other side of the spectrum, there are many proponents who say that blockchain is actually a boon for environmental causes.
然而，有些反对者认为区块链对环境造成了巨大的负面影响，部分的原因在于区块链与加密数字货币（比特币）之间的关系。例如，由于涉及到高能源的使用，区块链会产生惊人的高碳足迹。但从另一个角度来看，有许多支持者认为区块链实际是对环境事业的一种恩惠。

The History of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
区块链与加密数字货币的历史

In order to dissect this issue, it’s important to first understand what blockchain is and how it relates to cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin.
为了仔细分析这个问题，重要的是先了解什么是区块链以及它和加密数字货币之间的关系，特别是它和比特币之间的关系。

The concept of blockchain technology was invented in 2008 by an incognito person (or persons) known as Satoshi Nakamoto, who authored a whitepaper entitled “Bitcoin: A Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System.” Shortly after the white paper’s publication, Nakamoto introduced the first Bitcoins, along with the first implementation of a blockchain database.
区块链技术的概念是由一位叫做中本聪的隐姓埋名者在2008年发明出来的， 他撰写了一篇名为“比特币：一种点对点电子货币系统”的白皮书，在白皮书发表不久之后，中本聪推出了第一批比特币，同时推动了区块链数据库的第一次实施。

This database, an accurate, immutable transactional ledger, brought about a sense of trust to the shadowy realm of early digital currency. Transparent, decentralized, and featuring real-time logging, the database was accessible to anyone who needed to access it — and it could not be altered.
这个数据库采用一种精确的、不可篡改的分布式帐本为早期电子货币的隐蔽性带来了信任感。透明、去中心化且可实时记录的特点使得任何人都可访问数据库，而且不可能被更改。

Eventually, blockchain started being used in other capacities beyond cryptocurrency transactions. In the mid-2010s, companies started to recognize the intrinsic value of blockchain and its ability to streamline communications and transactions.
最终，区块链开始被应用于加密数字货币交易之外的领域。在2010年6月份左右，许多公司开始认识到区块链的内在价值，以及它简化通信和交易的能力。

Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and the Environment
区块链、加密数字货币和环境

While blockchain does require a fair amount of electricity, most of the environmental arguments against the technology center on its use in cryptocurrencies. Some cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are extracted from the digital ecosystem through a process called mining, a type of cryptography that involves recording transactional data in a public ledger — the blockchain.
然而区块链需要大量的电力，大多数环境争论中反对区块链的一方主要集中在这项技术应用于加密数字货币上。某些加密数字货币，例如比特币，要通过一种叫做挖矿过程才能从数字生态系统中获取，挖矿是一种在公共记账中记录分布式数据的密码学——区块链。

The cryptography is framed within a “proof-of-work” protocol, which rewards miners for solving complex equations — the reward being digital coins. This process requires a huge amount of computing power, which translates to a massive amount of energy consumption.
这种密码学遵循“工作证明”协议，它奖励数字货币给那些为解决复杂方程式的矿工们。挖矿过程需要大量的算力，这意味着消耗大量的能源。

“The easiest way to understand this on a simple level is as a guess-the-number game,” explains Jay ‘TechAdept’ Laurence, COO of Reddcoin, a cryptocurrency that is not extracted via a mining process.
从一个单纯层面上了解挖矿过程，最简单的方法是把它当成一种“猜数字游戏”，Reddcoin（公司名称）的COO Jay ‘Laurence解释道，一个数字货币不可能通过一个挖矿过程得到。

“Suppose I, the Bitcoin network, choose a random number between one and 100. And then [I] ask each of my friends — the miners — to submit their guesses as to what the number is. If they get it right, they win a coin. If they don’t, they just get to try again. Each guess costs a bit of effort and energy to calculate a number, write it down, and check with the network.
假设在比特币的网络中，矿工I在1至100之间随机选择一个数字，然后要求我的每一个朋友（也是矿工）猜这个数据是什么，如果他们猜中那么就赢得一个货币，如果他们猜不中，就要继续往下猜。每一位猜数字的矿工都需要花费一些精力和能量来计算一个数字，将数字写下，然后在网络中检验。

“In this example, some of my more enterprising friends might realize that being able to guess more often would win more coins. So they invest real money and electricity into specially engineered guessing machines so that they can make thousands and millions of guesses per second.
“在这个例子中，我一些富有进取心的朋友意识到，能够频繁的猜测才能赢得更多的货币，因此他们将真金白银和电力投资到专门为挖矿设计的机器中，使得他们的猜测频率达到每秒成千上万次。”

“The mathematical formula underlying these guesses lends itself nicely to specialized hardware … machines very capable of doing these special calculations extremely quickly. … These machines are housed in warehouses and data centers, and do indeed devour an increasingly large amount of energy.”
“这些猜测所隐藏的数学公式非常适合采用专门的硬件进行计算…机器有足够的能力进行快速计算…这些机器被封装在仓库和数据中心内，确实吞噬着越来越多的能源。”

However, in response to Bitcoin’s excessive use of energy, a new model, dubbed “proof-of-stake,” has emerged. Using his guessing-game analogy, Laurence explains that with a proof-of-stake system, “my stake would allow me to simply hold pieces of paper with a whole bunch of numbers. Each time the network chooses a number on one of my pieces of paper, I get a little reward.
然而，为了应对比特币过度地使用能源，出现了一种叫做“权益证明”的新模式。Laurence使用一个权益证明系统来解释如何使用他的猜数字类比模式，“我的权益允许我在写满大串数字的纸上持有一小片纸，每当网络在我这一小片纸张种选中一个数字，我就得到一点奖励。”

“There is no intensive calculating necessary for this to happen as in Bitcoin, so no wasted computational energy and electricity, or at least far, far less. A PC instead of a data center full of servers, by comparison.”

“做这样的事情不需要像比特币那样需要密集的计算，所以不会浪费计算能源和电力，或者至少远小于比特币所耗费的能源和电力，相比之下，一台计算器就相当于一座满负荷运行的数据中心。”

How Blockchain Can Help the Environment
区块链如何帮助改善环境

Although blockchain’s Bitcoin origins have given it a not-so-eco-friendly reputation, there are some businesses, such as the startup company Nori, that see blockchain as an environmentally conscious tool — with the potential for use in reversing climate change.
虽然比特币的起源给区块链带来了“不那么生态友好”的名称，但是有些企业，例如初创公司Nori认为区块链是一种具有扭转气候变化潜力的环保意识工具。

Nori uses blockchain to power the company’s carbon dioxide removal marketplace, which connects altruists across the globe directly with carbon-removal suppliers in order to fund the removal of excess carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
Nori利用区块链为该公司的二氧化碳去除市场提供动力，将全球利他主义者与除碳供应商直接连接起来，为去除大气中过度排放的碳筹集资金。

CEO of Nori, says, “Some blockchains run in a manner that consumes excessive amounts of energy, and others operate in a way that has a negligible energy impact. In my company’s case, we are building a blockchain-based application that makes it simple for people to pay for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. That’s a direct benefit to environmental concerns … utilizing the blockchain to provide transparency and credibility to how the removed CO2 is measured and verified.”
Nori 的CEO Paul Gambill说到，“有些区块链运行的方式消耗大量的能源，而有些则消耗微不足道的能源，我们公司的想法是建立一个区块链基础应用程序，使得人们为去除大气种的二氧化碳的付费变得简单，这是给环境问题的直接福利….利用区块链为测量和核实有多少二氧化碳被去除提供透明度和可信度。”

Closing Thoughts
总结

Although its roots stem from controversial origins, blockchain has evolved far beyond its original application in cryptocurrency. And when considering energy use, it’s important to make the distinction between Bitcoin and blockchain, keeping in mind that Bitcoin requires a digital-labor intensive process with excessive energy demands, while blockchain doesn’t necessarily.
虽然区块链的初衷存在争议，但是区块链的进化远超出了它在加密数字货币初始应用。就能源使用而论，区别比特币和区块链之间的差别是非常重要的，需要记住的是，比特币需要一个数字劳工密集型过程，该过程需求能源过多，而区块链并不一定。

Blockchain is already starting to be used for environmental applications, and, as the technology continues to evolve, industry players across the world will be keeping an eye on its wide-ranging uses.
区块链已经开始用于环境应用，随着科技的不断演变，全世界的行业参与者将密切关注区块链的广泛应用。

文章来源：The Truth About Blockchain’s Impact on the Environment

原  作  者：Kristin Manganello

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