Yanshanying Town (detail)
Inner Mongolia, China

Until Chinese law banned crypto-currency ‘mining’ in 2021 over environmental concerns, Inner Mongolia was one of 4 hubs for Bitcoin ‘mining’ in China, owing to its cheap energy supply, fired largely by coal.
Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency relying on ‘miners’ to verify each transaction, utilising multiple specialised computers with huge processing power. Its energy footprint has skyrocketed: specialised ‘mining’ computer networks accounted for an estimated 0.65% (120 terawatt hours TWh) of global electricity in 2021.
The Chinese ban has led to an exodus of ‘mining’ to countries with access to cheap electricity (for example, USA, Canada, Russia, and Kazakhstan), with Texas expected to be the new global hub of Bitcoin mining.

Approx area depicted: 12 km2
Date of image: 2021