Bitcoin energy debate gets scrutiny, but University of Pennsylvania has no qualms

The debate on bitcoin's (BTC-USD) energy usage gets a deep dive by New York magazine's Intelligencer column and it's not as clear cut as Tesla's Elon Musk may make it out.Last month, Square ([[SQ]] +1.6%) CEO Jack Dorsey laid out the case for bitcoin actually driving the shift to clean energy.Yes, it takes a huge amount of energy, with International Energy Association estimating that bitcoin mining used 50-70 terawatt hours in 2019, about as much as Switzerland uses each year, the article said. But how that energy is generated is key.Most of bitcoin mining takes place in China, which burns more coal than any other country. But the computers that solve the math problems to reap bitcoin get much of their power from no-carbon sources, chiefly hydroelectric, which China's bitcoin miners tend to use because it's cheaper than coal.CoinShares, a digital-asset investing firm, estimates 74% of the energy used for