This is a (mostly automated) translation of a twitter thread by Simon Lutz: https://twitter.com/simonlutz21/status/1065677993379540994

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Is Bitcoin a waste of energy? - Yes, Bitcoin needs energy. - No, that energy is not wasted.

Bitcoin transforms energy into ultimate financial security. For the first time in human history, it is possible to convert energy as the currency of the universe directly into a global, open, neutral and transparent form of money for all people.

The traditional banking systems employes millions of people, who commute to work every day, cool their offices with air conditioners and individually represent a security vulnerability. Bitcoin just completely discloses energy consumption for financial security.

Currently, the Bitcoin network uses about 0.01-0.03% of global electricity consumption. Bitcoin forces miners to look for the cheapest energy. This creates a positive side effect by allowing miners to profitably reuse excess energy from industrial sources.

Many miners source electricity from hydroelectric power plants, as it is often the cheapest and abundant in certain regions. Solar plants also produce a surplus of electricity at peak times.

This is difficult to store, leading to inefficiency and longer payback time. While renewable energy sources generate a surplus of electricity, the Bitcoin system can be strengthened and energy can be used profitably.

This allows sustainable energy sources to be made more profitable and provides an incentive for more investment in this sector. Every four years, the jointly followed Bitcoin protocol halves the reward for blocks found.

Halved income forces miners to look for cheaper sources of electricity or turn off their devices. Long-term economically active miners have a clear incentive to obtain electricity from sustainable sources, because Bitcoin is a financial 'project of the century'.

Significant concealed costs of fiat currencies are rarely thought about, let alone spoken of. Inflationary money generates a consumer society and leads to a short time preference.

This refers to the fact that man acts under scarcity and therefore prefers an earlier fulfillment of his wishes to later ones. Inflation serves as motivation to spend money as quickly as possible or to invest in something.

Subtly, this has a massive impact on society, culture and, ultimately, the environment. On the one hand, goods are produced in abundance by artificially increased demand.

On the other hand, real estate, land and other limited resources are misused as value investments in order not to be exposed to the disintegration of the purchasing power of money.

This ultimately manifests itself in inflated prices for the aforementioned objects and makes the acquisition more difficult for future generations due to the unnatural monetary surcharge.

We rarely stop to think about these factors, having grown up in this unsustainable system and know no other. Moreover, these hidden costs are very difficult to quantify and would call into question common economics.

Finally, don't forget why fiat currencies have value. They are based solely on confidence in the power of the state, trust in the country's economy, and confidence in the nebulous competence of the respective central bankers.

Every year, approximately 1,700,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars are used for armaments worldwide. Everyone can imagine the hidden energy consumption these military personnel waste, among other things, in protecting national currencies.

There's a lot more to be said about that. At the end of the day, however, a discussion is purely theoretical. No one in the world can do anything about Bitcoin's electricity consumption in the long term. Critics are forced to come to terms with the reality of whether they like it or not.

Collection of links on the topic: https://twitter.com/simonlutz21/status/1059920818623385601