Bitcoin Electricity Consumption – Part 2

The talk rages on as bitcoin electrical energy consumption will increase…

Earlier this yr, we revealed an article on bitcoin electrical energy consumption, reporting how Iceland has grow to be one of many high areas for cryptocurrency servers, which now exceed the consumption of personal vitality customers.

Now, the criticism amongst ecological circles and the debates round bitcoin electrical energy consumption have been fuelled by a paper by Alex de Vries of PwC’s Expertise Heart in Amsterdam.

His paper, Bitcoin’s Rising Power Drawback, concludes that bitcoin’s electrical energy consumption might quickly be heading above a consumption price of 8 gigawatts (GW) per yr.

The paper’s findings:

For the time being, the bitcoin community consumes at the least 2.55 GW of electrical energy – as excessive because the annual vitality consumption of Eire.

This might attain a consumption of seven.67 GW sooner or later – near the vitality consumption of all the nation of Austria (8.2 GW).

By the tip of 2018, the mining of bitcoin might be utilizing as a lot as 0.005% of all the world’s vitality use.

The fact is that bitcoin makes use of a large quantity of vitality. Writer Alex de Vries says: “The bitcoin improvement neighborhood is experimenting with options such because the Lightning Community to enhance the throughput of the community, which can alleviate the state of affairs. For now, nonetheless, bitcoin has an enormous downside and it’s rising quick.”

Why does bitcoin mining require a lot vitality?

The bitcoin mining course of makes use of computer systems with software program that may clear up complicated mathematical issues. A brand new block is added to the blockchain each time a brand new downside is solved, rewarding the miner with bitcoins. This course of requires numerous vitality as a result of the computer systems must ledger all of the transactions in order that the identical cash aren’t spent twice – this takes time and consumes numerous electrical energy.

How can bitcoin electrical energy consumption grow to be sustainable?

De Vries’ analysis reveals that if the worth of bitcoin continues to go down, and the quantity of vitality wanted to mine it continues to rise, bitcoin funding might grow to be inefficient.

One of many methods this may be averted is that if the world shifts to 100% renewable vitality within the years forward. With renewables, the environmental and effectivity considerations round bitcoin vitality utilization can be negated.

However is it potential to go 100% inexperienced?

New analysis from Renewable and Sustainable Power Critiques journal discovered {that a} shift to whole renewable vitality utilizing modern expertise is each potential and reasonably priced.

Co-author of the analysis, Brian Vad Mathiesen of Aalborg College says: “There are some persistent myths that 100% renewable programs are usually not potential. Our contribution offers with these myths one-by-one, utilizing all the newest analysis. Now let’s get again to the enterprise of modelling low-cost situations to get rid of fossil fuels from our vitality system, so we will deal with the local weather and well being challenges they pose.”

If we have been to get rid of fossil gasoline utilization, this could get rid of the environmental and effectivity challenges brought on by energy-intensive bitcoin mining.

It’s not not possible to think about a world through which bitcoin is used completely, backed by inexperienced vitality. If there’s one factor we’ve learnt over time, it’s to ‘by no means say by no means’…