在1942年的電影《來(lái)吃晚餐的人》(The Man Who Came to Dinner)中,傳奇喜劇演員吉米?杜蘭特用一首名為“你是否有想留下來(lái)的感覺(jué)”(Did You Ever Have the Feeling That You Wanted to Stay)的瘋狂歌曲逗樂(lè)了戰(zhàn)時(shí)的觀眾。吉米坐在鋼琴前,旋律激蕩的音樂(lè)展現(xiàn)了他不知是來(lái)還是去的矛盾心理。這位矮腳滑稽演員不停起身,戴上斯泰森氈帽,好像要離開(kāi),然后又坐下來(lái),脫掉帽子,又好像想留下來(lái)。在做溜溜球動(dòng)作的時(shí)候,他敲著琴鍵顫抖著說(shuō):“你曾經(jīng)有想離開(kāi)的感覺(jué),但仍然有想留下來(lái)的感覺(jué)。走或留,留或走,又想走的時(shí)候,你卻又改變了主意!”
埃隆?馬斯克對(duì)比特幣(Bitcoin)的態(tài)度起伏不定,與吉米“你有過(guò)那種感覺(jué)嗎”的進(jìn)退兩難不謀而合。今年早些時(shí)候,這位特斯拉(Tesla)的首席執(zhí)行官以15億美元購(gòu)買了這種標(biāo)志性加密貨幣一舉成名,引發(fā)了一場(chǎng)巨大的反彈。隨后在5月,他又在推特(Twitter)上表示,由于比特幣的碳排放太大,特斯拉將不再接受比特幣作為其電動(dòng)汽車的付款方式,又引發(fā)了一輪拋售。在今年6月初,馬斯克發(fā)布了一個(gè)關(guān)于一對(duì)情侶分手的表情包——伴隨著比特幣的話題標(biāo)簽和心碎表情——似乎是在暗示要放棄比特幣。幾周后,這位汽車行業(yè)的大明星似乎又把他的斯泰森氈帽擱在一邊,在鍵盤前坐了下來(lái),并在推特上發(fā)文稱:“在礦商合理(約50%)使用清潔能源的情況下,特斯拉將恢復(fù)接受比特幣?!?/p>
現(xiàn)在,一份新的報(bào)告顯示了用于開(kāi)采特斯拉比特幣的碳是如何抵消其電動(dòng)汽車節(jié)省的大部分排放的。它提供的數(shù)據(jù)證明,特斯拉的綠色目標(biāo)和對(duì)比特幣的熱情是相互矛盾的。這份報(bào)告中的發(fā)現(xiàn)應(yīng)該給馬斯克一個(gè)充分的理由去反思一下。
這項(xiàng)研究題為“數(shù)字貨幣的真實(shí)成本:探索能源使用之外的影響”(The True Costs of Digital Currencies: Exploring Impact Beyond Energy Use),發(fā)表在愛(ài)思唯爾(Elsevier)的期刊《一個(gè)地球》(One Earth)上。論文的作者是荷蘭央行經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家亞歷克斯?德?弗里斯、慕尼黑大學(xué)(University of Munich)的烏爾里希?加勒斯多弗和克里斯蒂安?斯托爾,以及麻省理工學(xué)院(MIT)的萊娜?克拉森。弗里斯還運(yùn)營(yíng)著一個(gè)跟蹤比特幣能源足跡的網(wǎng)站Digiconomist。該報(bào)告對(duì)比特幣在ESG、能源、社會(huì)影響和治理三個(gè)方面的缺點(diǎn)進(jìn)行了全面分析。但我將關(guān)注這些作者如何首次量化特斯拉持有的比特幣在比特幣排放中所占的份額。
他們指出,比特幣挖礦消耗的能源幾乎相當(dāng)于全球所有數(shù)據(jù)中心的總和,產(chǎn)生的二氧化碳排放量相當(dāng)于倫敦市的碳排放量。這篇論文估計(jì),比特幣每年產(chǎn)生9020萬(wàn)噸碳?xì)怏w。根據(jù)國(guó)際能源署(International Energy Agency)的計(jì)算,這一數(shù)額幾乎超過(guò)了以電動(dòng)汽車取代汽油汽車所實(shí)現(xiàn)的年度總減少量的兩倍。
為了得出特斯拉在比特幣排放中的“份額”,這些作者援引了《溫室氣體協(xié)議》(Greenhouse Gas Protocol)并做出自己的解讀,該協(xié)議決定了一家公司對(duì)其他排放碳?xì)浠衔锏钠髽I(yè)的股權(quán)投資的碳足跡份額。假設(shè)公司A是公司B的被動(dòng)投資者,無(wú)權(quán)決定公司B的能源政策。如果公司A擁有公司B 20%的股份,《溫室氣體協(xié)議》系統(tǒng)將公司B五分之一的碳排放分配給公司A。顯然,比特幣不是一家公司,但對(duì)特斯拉來(lái)說(shuō),它顯然是一種投資。因此,將比特幣的碳排放比例分配給特斯拉,使其在所有比特幣中的所有權(quán)份額相匹配,是說(shuō)得通的。
這些作者估計(jì),特斯拉在2021年年初大手筆采購(gòu)了43,345枚比特幣,在第一季結(jié)束時(shí)賣出了這其中的10%,至今仍然持有39,092枚。據(jù)本人估計(jì),目前的數(shù)量還要略高一些,約為41,000枚。礦工挖出了近1,900萬(wàn)枚比特幣,但約20%的比特幣已經(jīng)散佚。因此,在市場(chǎng)上流通的約1,500萬(wàn)枚中,特斯拉擁有約0.26%。它在比特幣年碳排放量中的“份額”是9,020萬(wàn)公噸的0.25%,即24萬(wàn)公噸。
那么,這個(gè)數(shù)字與特斯拉聲稱其電動(dòng)汽車每年節(jié)省的排放量相比,又如何呢?特斯拉沒(méi)有給出年報(bào)數(shù)據(jù),但提供了其他數(shù)據(jù)作為估計(jì)。在合著者德?弗里斯的幫助下,我得出了以下近似結(jié)論。在2019年4月的一份環(huán)境影響報(bào)告中,特斯拉表示,到那時(shí)為止,該公司已經(jīng)減少了400萬(wàn)噸二氧化碳排放。最近,特斯拉在其網(wǎng)站上公布,目前減少的排放量已經(jīng)超過(guò)了1,600萬(wàn)公噸。因此,在過(guò)去的兩年里,特斯拉估計(jì)它的排放量減少了大約1,200萬(wàn)公噸,即每年600萬(wàn)公噸。因此,我們將把2020年實(shí)現(xiàn)的減排目標(biāo)定為兩年總減排目標(biāo)的一半,即6公噸。
結(jié)論就是:在特斯拉資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表上產(chǎn)生的近4萬(wàn)枚比特幣的排放量,相當(dāng)于其汽車避免污染大氣排放的4%。2020年,特斯拉交付了18.1萬(wàn)輛汽車。你可能會(huì)說(shuō),它與比特幣的姻親關(guān)系抹去了7,000多輛電動(dòng)汽車的環(huán)保效益。德?弗里斯稱,如果買家在48個(gè)月內(nèi)用比特幣購(gòu)買一輛特斯拉,比特幣交易的碳排放將超過(guò)駕駛電動(dòng)汽車所節(jié)省的碳排放量。
當(dāng)然,我們不知道馬斯克是否會(huì)繼續(xù)為特斯拉的金庫(kù)購(gòu)買比特幣,還是繼續(xù)接受比特幣購(gòu)買其S、X、Y和3等車型。但馬斯克購(gòu)買或持有的每一枚比特幣都是通過(guò)向空氣中排放溫室氣體開(kāi)采出來(lái)的。其金庫(kù)里的每一枚硬幣都在破壞特斯拉作為終極綠色捍衛(wèi)者的形象。難怪一說(shuō)到比特幣,埃隆?馬斯克不知道自己“是離開(kāi)還是留下”。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
編譯:陳聰聰
在1942年的電影《來(lái)吃晚餐的人》(The Man Who Came to Dinner)中,傳奇喜劇演員吉米?杜蘭特用一首名為“你是否有想留下來(lái)的感覺(jué)”(Did You Ever Have the Feeling That You Wanted to Stay)的瘋狂歌曲逗樂(lè)了戰(zhàn)時(shí)的觀眾。吉米坐在鋼琴前,旋律激蕩的音樂(lè)展現(xiàn)了他不知是來(lái)還是去的矛盾心理。這位矮腳滑稽演員不停起身,戴上斯泰森氈帽,好像要離開(kāi),然后又坐下來(lái),脫掉帽子,又好像想留下來(lái)。在做溜溜球動(dòng)作的時(shí)候,他敲著琴鍵顫抖著說(shuō):“你曾經(jīng)有想離開(kāi)的感覺(jué),但仍然有想留下來(lái)的感覺(jué)。走或留,留或走,又想走的時(shí)候,你卻又改變了主意!”
埃隆?馬斯克對(duì)比特幣(Bitcoin)的態(tài)度起伏不定,與吉米“你有過(guò)那種感覺(jué)嗎”的進(jìn)退兩難不謀而合。今年早些時(shí)候,這位特斯拉(Tesla)的首席執(zhí)行官以15億美元購(gòu)買了這種標(biāo)志性加密貨幣一舉成名,引發(fā)了一場(chǎng)巨大的反彈。隨后在5月,他又在推特(Twitter)上表示,由于比特幣的碳排放太大,特斯拉將不再接受比特幣作為其電動(dòng)汽車的付款方式,又引發(fā)了一輪拋售。在今年6月初,馬斯克發(fā)布了一個(gè)關(guān)于一對(duì)情侶分手的表情包——伴隨著比特幣的話題標(biāo)簽和心碎表情——似乎是在暗示要放棄比特幣。幾周后,這位汽車行業(yè)的大明星似乎又把他的斯泰森氈帽擱在一邊,在鍵盤前坐了下來(lái),并在推特上發(fā)文稱:“在礦商合理(約50%)使用清潔能源的情況下,特斯拉將恢復(fù)接受比特幣?!?/p>
現(xiàn)在,一份新的報(bào)告顯示了用于開(kāi)采特斯拉比特幣的碳是如何抵消其電動(dòng)汽車節(jié)省的大部分排放的。它提供的數(shù)據(jù)證明,特斯拉的綠色目標(biāo)和對(duì)比特幣的熱情是相互矛盾的。這份報(bào)告中的發(fā)現(xiàn)應(yīng)該給馬斯克一個(gè)充分的理由去反思一下。
這項(xiàng)研究題為“數(shù)字貨幣的真實(shí)成本:探索能源使用之外的影響”(The True Costs of Digital Currencies: Exploring Impact Beyond Energy Use),發(fā)表在愛(ài)思唯爾(Elsevier)的期刊《一個(gè)地球》(One Earth)上。論文的作者是荷蘭央行經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家亞歷克斯?德?弗里斯、慕尼黑大學(xué)(University of Munich)的烏爾里希?加勒斯多弗和克里斯蒂安?斯托爾,以及麻省理工學(xué)院(MIT)的萊娜?克拉森。弗里斯還運(yùn)營(yíng)著一個(gè)跟蹤比特幣能源足跡的網(wǎng)站Digiconomist。該報(bào)告對(duì)比特幣在ESG、能源、社會(huì)影響和治理三個(gè)方面的缺點(diǎn)進(jìn)行了全面分析。但我將關(guān)注這些作者如何首次量化特斯拉持有的比特幣在比特幣排放中所占的份額。
他們指出,比特幣挖礦消耗的能源幾乎相當(dāng)于全球所有數(shù)據(jù)中心的總和,產(chǎn)生的二氧化碳排放量相當(dāng)于倫敦市的碳排放量。這篇論文估計(jì),比特幣每年產(chǎn)生9020萬(wàn)噸碳?xì)怏w。根據(jù)國(guó)際能源署(International Energy Agency)的計(jì)算,這一數(shù)額幾乎超過(guò)了以電動(dòng)汽車取代汽油汽車所實(shí)現(xiàn)的年度總減少量的兩倍。
為了得出特斯拉在比特幣排放中的“份額”,這些作者援引了《溫室氣體協(xié)議》(Greenhouse Gas Protocol)并做出自己的解讀,該協(xié)議決定了一家公司對(duì)其他排放碳?xì)浠衔锏钠髽I(yè)的股權(quán)投資的碳足跡份額。假設(shè)公司A是公司B的被動(dòng)投資者,無(wú)權(quán)決定公司B的能源政策。如果公司A擁有公司B 20%的股份,《溫室氣體協(xié)議》系統(tǒng)將公司B五分之一的碳排放分配給公司A。顯然,比特幣不是一家公司,但對(duì)特斯拉來(lái)說(shuō),它顯然是一種投資。因此,將比特幣的碳排放比例分配給特斯拉,使其在所有比特幣中的所有權(quán)份額相匹配,是說(shuō)得通的。
這些作者估計(jì),特斯拉在2021年年初大手筆采購(gòu)了43,345枚比特幣,在第一季結(jié)束時(shí)賣出了這其中的10%,至今仍然持有39,092枚。據(jù)本人估計(jì),目前的數(shù)量還要略高一些,約為41,000枚。礦工挖出了近1,900萬(wàn)枚比特幣,但約20%的比特幣已經(jīng)散佚。因此,在市場(chǎng)上流通的約1,500萬(wàn)枚中,特斯拉擁有約0.26%。它在比特幣年碳排放量中的“份額”是9,020萬(wàn)公噸的0.25%,即24萬(wàn)公噸。
那么,這個(gè)數(shù)字與特斯拉聲稱其電動(dòng)汽車每年節(jié)省的排放量相比,又如何呢?特斯拉沒(méi)有給出年報(bào)數(shù)據(jù),但提供了其他數(shù)據(jù)作為估計(jì)。在合著者德?弗里斯的幫助下,我得出了以下近似結(jié)論。在2019年4月的一份環(huán)境影響報(bào)告中,特斯拉表示,到那時(shí)為止,該公司已經(jīng)減少了400萬(wàn)噸二氧化碳排放。最近,特斯拉在其網(wǎng)站上公布,目前減少的排放量已經(jīng)超過(guò)了1,600萬(wàn)公噸。因此,在過(guò)去的兩年里,特斯拉估計(jì)它的排放量減少了大約1,200萬(wàn)公噸,即每年600萬(wàn)公噸。因此,我們將把2020年實(shí)現(xiàn)的減排目標(biāo)定為兩年總減排目標(biāo)的一半,即6公噸。
結(jié)論就是:在特斯拉資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表上產(chǎn)生的近4萬(wàn)枚比特幣的排放量,相當(dāng)于其汽車避免污染大氣排放的4%。2020年,特斯拉交付了18.1萬(wàn)輛汽車。你可能會(huì)說(shuō),它與比特幣的姻親關(guān)系抹去了7,000多輛電動(dòng)汽車的環(huán)保效益。德?弗里斯稱,如果買家在48個(gè)月內(nèi)用比特幣購(gòu)買一輛特斯拉,比特幣交易的碳排放將超過(guò)駕駛電動(dòng)汽車所節(jié)省的碳排放量。
當(dāng)然,我們不知道馬斯克是否會(huì)繼續(xù)為特斯拉的金庫(kù)購(gòu)買比特幣,還是繼續(xù)接受比特幣購(gòu)買其S、X、Y和3等車型。但馬斯克購(gòu)買或持有的每一枚比特幣都是通過(guò)向空氣中排放溫室氣體開(kāi)采出來(lái)的。其金庫(kù)里的每一枚硬幣都在破壞特斯拉作為終極綠色捍衛(wèi)者的形象。難怪一說(shuō)到比特幣,埃隆?馬斯克不知道自己“是離開(kāi)還是留下”。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
編譯:陳聰聰
In the 1942 film "The Man Who Came to Dinner," legendary comedian Jimmy Durante tickled wartime moviegoers in a madcap number called "Did You Ever Have the Feeling That You Wanted to Stay.'" Jimmy's seated at the piano, and the musical twist is that he doesn't know if he's coming or going. The bantam funnyman keeps bouncing to his feet and donning his stetson as if to leave, then sitting back down shedding the hat like he's staying. While doing his yo-yo routine, he's thumping the keys and trilling, "Did you ever have the feelin' that you wanted to go, but still have the feelin' that you wanted to stay. Go or stay, stay or go, start to go again and change your mind again!"
Elon Musk's up and down attitude towards Bitcoin echoes Jimmy's "did you ever have the feelin'" predicament. The Tesla CEO famously bought $1.5 billion in the signature cryptocurrency early this year, igniting a giant rally, then backtracked in May by tweeting that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for its EVs due to its extensive carbon footprint, sparking a selloff. Then, it seemed that Musk might be abandoning Bitcoin in early June, when he issued a meme about a couple breaking up––sporting a Bitcoin hashtag and broken heart emoji. Two weeks later, the auto industry's premier showman appeared to shelve his stetson and sit back down at the keyboard by tweeting that Tesla would resume accepting Bitcoin "When there's confirmation of reasonable (around 50%) clean energy usage by miners."
Now, a new report is chronicling how the carbon used to mine Tesla's Bitcoin is negating a significant part of the emissions saved by its EVs. It provides numbers documenting that Tesla' green goals and enthusiasm for Bitcoin contradict one another. Its findings should give Musk good reason to get the feelin' to go.
The study is titled "The True Costs of Digital Currencies: Exploring Impact Beyond Energy Use," published in the Elsevier journal One Earth. The authors are economist Alex de Vries of the central bank of the Netherlands, who also runs the site Digiconomist that tracks Bitcoin's energy footprint, Ulrich Gallersdorfer and Christian Stoll of the University of Munich, and Lena Klaassen of MIT. The report offers a broad view of Bitcoin's shortcomings in all three categories of ESG, energy, social impact, and governance. But I'll focus on how the authors, for the first time, quantify the share of Bitcoin's emissions attributable to Tesla's holdings.
They note that Bitcoin mining consumes almost as much energy as all the the world's data centers combined, and produces CO2 emissions that match the carbon footprint for the city of London. The paper estimates that Bitcoin generates 90.2 million metric tons of carbon gases per year. That volume exceeds by almost two times the total annual reductions achieved by the replacement of gasoline-burning cars by electric vehicles, as calculated by the International Energy Agency.
To arrive at Tesla's "share" of Bitcoin's emissions, the authors adapt the Greenhouse Gas (GGH) Protocol that determines the portion of a company's carbon footprint attributable to its equity investments in other enterprisesthat emit hydrocarbons. Say company A is a passive investor in company B and has no power to determine B's energy policies. If A owns 20% of B, the GGH system simply allocates one-fifth of B's carbon footprint to A. Obviously, Bitcoin isn't a company, but for Tesla, it's clearly an investment. Hence, it makes sense to allot Tesla the proportion of Bitcoin's carbon emissions that matches its ownership share in all Bitcoin.
The authors reckon that Tesla acquired 43,345 coins during its big buy at the start of 2021, and still holds 39,092, following the famous sale of 10% of their stash later in Q1. (My own estimate of their current haul is a bit higher at around 41,000). Miners have minted almost 19 million Bitcoin, but around 20% of the coins have been lost. So of the roughly 15 million in circulation, Tesla owns about 0.26%. Its "share" of Bitcoin's annual carbon emissions is one-quarter-of-one-percent of that 90.2 million Mt., or 0.24 million Mt.
So how does that number compare with the emissions that Tesla claims its EVs are saving each year? Tesla doesn't report the numbers by year, but does provide other data that point to an estimate. I arrived at the following approximation with the assistance of co-author de Vries. In an environmental impact report from April of 2019, Tesla stated that it had saved 4 million metric tons (Mt.) of CO2 over its history through that date. It recently posted on its website that the current number's risen to over 16 million Mt. Hence, over the past two years, Tesla reckons that it's reduced emissions by a total of around more than 12 million Mt., or 6 million Mt. annually. So we'll put the reduction in achieved in 2020 at half the two-year total or 6 Mt.
Conclusion: The emissions that produced the almost 40,000 coins on Tesla's balance sheet equaled about 4% of the gases that its cars kept from polluting the atmosphere. In 2020, Tesla delivered 181,000 vehicles. You could argue that its romance with Bitcoin erased the environmental benefits from more than 7,000 of those EVs. De Vries says that if a buyer purchases a Tesla by making payments over 48 months in Bitcoin, the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin transactions would exceed the total lifetime emissions savings from driving an EV instead of a gasoline-powered car.
Of course, we don't know if Musk will keep buying Bitcoin for Tesla's treasury, or resume accepting coins for its Models S, X, Y, and 3. But every coin that Musk buys or collects was mined by putting gases in the air that Tesla's EVs are taking out. Every coin in its treasury undermines its image as the ultimate green champion. No wonder that when it comes to Bitcoin, Elon Musk doesn't know if he's coming or going.