coinedition.com
In a recent Twitter thread, Digiconomist noted that the total amount of power used by the bitcoin mining sector in 2017 was 161 TWh. Notably, there was a larger power usage than in comparison to all of Sweden.
Let’s start the year by reflecting on the colossal waste of resources in Bitcoin mining:
— Digiconomist (@DigiEconomist) January 1, 2023
During 2022 Bitcoin consumed 161 TWh of electricity in total, exceeding a country such as Sweden.
Related CO2 emissions were ~90 Mt; again negating the entire global net savings from EVs.
Additionally, for every blockchain transaction performed, the network used an average of 1,738 kWh of electricity. The average U.S. family could consume the same amount of electricity for two months, according to Digiconomist.
Despite utilizing more energy, fewer transactions were carried out on the network in 2018 than in 2021. In fact, as was previously reported, Ethereum had fewer on-chain transactions in 2022 than Bitcoin. Specifically, compared to Bitcoin’s $93.1 million transactions, Ethereum recorded a total of $408.5 million.
Further sharing a point of view, the crypto economist thread shared,
The worldwide volume of non-cash transactions is growing past 1 trillion. BTC’s share is down to just 0.009%, while Bitcoin’s share of global electricity consumption is up to 0.64%.
Moreover, miners also continue to be responsible for 411 grams of electronic waste per Bitcoin transaction on average. That amounts to throwing away an iPad every time one sends money via the Bitcoin network.
Furthermore, the carbon footprint of a single Bitcoin transaction last year was 969 kilograms of CO2. The same was apparently equal to per passenger carbon footprint of a one-way flight from New York to Sydney or the total footprint of around two million credit card transactions.
In addition, miners continue to produce an average of 411 kilos of electronic garbage for each Bitcoin transaction. That equates to discarding an iPad after each transaction on the Bitcoin network.
Moreso, a single Bitcoin transaction last year generated 969 kg of CO2. The same was reportedly equivalent to either the overall carbon footprint of almost two million credit card transactions or the carbon footprint per passenger of a one-way journey from New York to Sydney.