How much energy does Bitcoin consume ?
As a keen environmentalist I wanted to know the truth about Bitcoins environmental impact. Whilst bitcoin does have undeniable CO2 emissions (greatly exaggerated by vested interests) the more obscure environmental upside of Bitcoin is potentially huge !
World TeraHash x Bitcoin Average J/THash = Watts.
(calculating) x (calculating) = (calculating) GW
Bitcoin Anual Power Consumption = Watts x Hours per year
Power: (Calculating) TWh per year
Bitcoin CO₂ = Power x gCO₂/kWh [scope 2]
(Calculating) x
= (Calculating) MtCO₂ per year
(Calculating) - (Calculating) Mitigation = (NetCO) MtCO₂ per year
Interestingly, although hash rate is climbing (mainly due to vast improvements in ASIC efficiency) Bitcoin's emissions are starting to plateau due to improvements in Grid carbon intensity & fully expected to drop following subsequent halving evens.
The dotted blue line is MT CO₂ minus mitigation such as mining with Methane + Home/ Business heating. Other mitigating factors not included are mining curtailment/ demand response schemes & banking sector curtailment.
The large drop in emissions during 2021 is due to the China mining ban followed by the subsequent move of much of the hash rate to the US where grid carbon intensity is generally lower.
The dotted blue line is MT CO₂ minus mitigation such as mining with Methane + Home/ Business heating. Other mitigating factors not included are mining curtailment/ demand response schemes & banking sector curtailment.
The large drop in emissions during 2021 is due to the China mining ban followed by the subsequent move of much of the hash rate to the US where grid carbon intensity is generally lower.
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All calculations are Bitcoin BTC ONLY
Factors are-
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For comparison the Three Gorges Dam the largest dam in the world has a generating capacity of 22.5 GW or more than 2 x Bitcoin
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All Currencies have an environmental cost.
- Paper money (fiat) requires Banks. Banks need Electricity, Fossil fuel for heating and vehicles, staff, staff travel & private jets
- Gold requires mining consuming vast amounts of fossil fuels, vehicles & transportation.
- Bartering has the hassle of converting cows to fractions of houses plus remembering who owes what to who and maybe having to forcefully remind them when they conveniently forget.
Where does Bitcoins energy go ?
Bitcoins power consumption serves three purposes
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≈ 98% Block reward
Like mining gold out of the ground. The block reward is currently 6.25 BTC
Gold takes hard work to acquire so does Bitcoin - Proof Of Work 
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≈ 2% Transaction fees
Additional reward is for processing all the transactions. Like melting, distributing gold bars and coins
0.1 - 0.3 BTC per block 
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0.0008% Bitcoin nodes
10,000s of nodes storing & verifying every transaction ever.
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When the gold's gone most miners will pack up and go home
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By 2028 over 98% coins will be mined & by 2140 virtually all coins will be mined. Subsequent Halvening's every 4 years coupled with tech advances will make it much easier to simply buy rather than mine.
Miners will be increasingly hashing for transaction fees + an increasingly tiny block reward, the "Gold Rush" will be over considerably reducing power consumption, leaving the world with a much more slimline incorruptible economic backbone of world money. No more bailouts ! The real cost of Banks. |
Bitcoin electricity per transaction
It takes roughy 231,851 kWh to mine 1 Bitcoin.
It takes roughly 9.3kWh to mine 1 Bitcoin transaction.
This one transaction could contain 10s-10,000s of Lightning or Batched transactions.
Below Bitcoins power consumption separated into Block reward & Transaction fees.
It takes roughly 9.3kWh to mine 1 Bitcoin transaction.
This one transaction could contain 10s-10,000s of Lightning or Batched transactions.
Below Bitcoins power consumption separated into Block reward & Transaction fees.
The average Bitcoin transaction is roughly £200,000 with a carbon footprint of 2kg. Bearing in mind it could be sent to the far side of the world, an armoured car carrying gold bars may clock up the same carbon foot print just driving a couple of miles down the road.
Even better 1 lightning transaction or channel opened, may close a year later having performed a virtually limitless amount of transactions ! Now you’re dividing that 2 x 2kg by 1000s ! We’re talking a carbon footprint of less than an email !
Even better 1 lightning transaction or channel opened, may close a year later having performed a virtually limitless amount of transactions ! Now you’re dividing that 2 x 2kg by 1000s ! We’re talking a carbon footprint of less than an email !
Bitcoin & Technology.
In the future Technological improvements will increase the hash rate, and not so much brute power. From 2009 to 2022 represents a 45,000% improvement in mining hardware efficiency.
2009 In 2009 you could mine on a regular PC
97,000,000 J/THs |
2022 - Bitmain S19 XP Mining now is only profitable on dedicated hardware such as a Bitmain S19j 140TH XP ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 3030 Watts
21.5 J/THs. Cost $5,500 |
Interesting Facts
If entire Bitcoin mining network consisted of the most efficient miner (Bitmain S19 Pro+ Hyd 255TH) it would require -
- 1,294,117 units (330,000,000TH / 255TH)
- Consuming 1,294,117 x 5050Watts = 6.53 GW
- 57.3 TWh/year
Bitcoins highest recorded power consumption peeked briefly at approximately 11 GW in March 2023.
Bitcoin vs EV's
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Global Electric Vehicle sales continue to grow exponentially, by 2022 globally, there were 28M EVs on the road.
Here's a comparison of EV charging vs Bitcoin electricity consumption. While the trajectory of EV electricity consumption is relatively easy to predict, Bitcoin is not so easy, the unknown factors being -
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Emission savings from switching to Electric Vehicles already dwarf Bitcoin emissions. The emission savings of switching from banking to Bitcoin could be MUCH larger !
Where is all that juice going to come from ? It takes 4.5kWh to refine 1 gallon(UK) of fuel. A Tesla can travel 23 Miles (37km) on that. If we simply stop refining fuel well have enough.
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Bitcoin mining vs Electric Vehicles
Which will be the perfect companion for electrical power generation ? I do not think it will be an either or situation & the two may even compliment each other.
EV Pros
EV Cons
Bitcoin pros
Bitcoin cons
EV Pros
- EVs can Pause charging when load is high (demand response) AND wait for the wind to blow or the sun to shine (load response)
- EVs are idle for 90% of their life offering greater flexibility as to when they consume possibly going weeks without needing to charge.
- EVs will be a MUCH bigger load than Bitcoin. As an 2 X EV driver I know they account for half of my total energy consumption.
- EVs can incentivise renewable build out
- EVs are already responding to cheap off peak electricity on a large scale by charging at night for 1/4 the price.
EV Cons
- Truly responsive charging requires grid operated smart charging for every participating vehicle
- EVs may choose rooftop solar cutting out the middleman, especially in the UK where prices are 6x higher than the US
Bitcoin pros
- Large scale mining is / can easily be integrated/ colocated with power generation
- Bitcoin can incentivise renewable build out
- Small scale demand response such as home mining for heat can be turn off during peek demand with schemes such as Octopus saving sessions
Bitcoin cons
- Bitcoin needs much greater up time (90%+) to remain profitable.
- 🤷🏻♂️ Despite all the "BITCOIN WILL BOIL THE OCEANS 😱" FUD, Bitcoins Power Consumption simply is not currently & may never be that big of a deal. Is that a con ?
Sources Links & Related Articles
Bitcoin Mining Council - bitcoinminingcouncil.com
Miner Daily - Moore’s Law vs Bitcoin ASICs and Network Growth
Green Bitcoin - Miners Demand Cleaner Energy
Bitcoin Stats - Bitinfocharts
Check out the - bitcoin mining museum
Miner Daily - Moore’s Law vs Bitcoin ASICs and Network Growth
Green Bitcoin - Miners Demand Cleaner Energy
Bitcoin Stats - Bitinfocharts
Check out the - bitcoin mining museum
