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The skyrocketing value of Bitcoin is leading to soaring energy consumption. According to one widely cited website that tracks the subject, the Bitcoin network is consuming power at an annual rate of 32TWh—about as much as Denmark. By the site's calculations, each Bitcoin transaction consumes 250kWh, enough to power homes for nine days. Naturally, this is leading to concerns about sustainability. Eric Holthaus, a writer for Grist, projectsthat, at current growth rates, the Bitcoin network will "use as much electricity as the entire world does today" by early 2020. "This is an unsustainable trajectory," he writes. Global energy production obviously can't double in two years, and it would be an environmental disaster if it did. Fortunately, while the Bitcoin network consumes a ridiculous
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Mike Norman considers the following as important: Bitcoin, bitcoin mining
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The skyrocketing value of Bitcoin is leading to soaring energy consumption. According to one widely cited website that tracks the subject, the Bitcoin network is consuming power at an annual rate of 32TWh—about as much as Denmark. By the site's calculations, each Bitcoin transaction consumes 250kWh, enough to power homes for nine days. Naturally, this is leading to concerns about sustainability. Eric Holthaus, a writer for Grist, projectsthat, at current growth rates, the Bitcoin network will "use as much electricity as the entire world does today" by early 2020. "This is an unsustainable trajectory," he writes. Global energy production obviously can't double in two years, and it would be an environmental disaster if it did. Fortunately, while the Bitcoin network consumes a ridiculous
Topics:
Mike Norman considers the following as important: Bitcoin, bitcoin mining
This could be interesting, too:
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The skyrocketing value of Bitcoin is leading to soaring energy consumption. According to one widely cited website that tracks the subject, the Bitcoin network is consuming power at an annual rate of 32TWh—about as much as Denmark. By the site's calculations, each Bitcoin transaction consumes 250kWh, enough to power homes for nine days.
Naturally, this is leading to concerns about sustainability. Eric Holthaus, a writer for Grist, projectsthat, at current growth rates, the Bitcoin network will "use as much electricity as the entire world does today" by early 2020. "This is an unsustainable trajectory," he writes.
Global energy production obviously can't double in two years, and it would be an environmental disaster if it did. Fortunately, while the Bitcoin network consumes a ridiculous amount of energy, particularly on a per-transaction basis, the situation isn't as dire as critics like Holthaus claim.
Bitcoin's energy consumption won't necessarily march steadily upward. Indeed, Bitcoin's energy consumption is designed to fall in the long run. And Bitcoin's energy consumption isn't tied to the number of transactions the network handles. That means that increasing use of the network won't necessarily impose a high environmental cost....Ars Technica
Bitcoin’s insane energy consumption, explained
Timothy B. Lee, senior reporter covering tech policy, blockchain technologies and the future of transportation
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