Bitcoin emissions & energy consumption compared

Bitcoins world energy consumption is currently approximately 120 TWh per year.
Gross emissions are approximately 24.5 MTCO₂e
Net emissions are approximately 9 - 11 MTCO₂e per year.

Reductions / Offsets

   Waste heat from mining consumes the same amount of electricity as a regular resistive heater & often displacing fossil heating. Switching from oil to electric in a Low Carbon Intensity area could reduce heating footprint by up to 92% . A mining heating combination has the potential to lower the cost of heating millions of homes, heat water, aid industrial processes such as drying or greenhouse warming etc.
   Methane is 125x more potent Green House Gas than CO₂ (Sir David King). Mining with otherwise vented CH₄ gives a massive reduction in GHGs to approximately 1/20th of original potency. DS Batten takes a deep dive into the complex science.
   Demand response in conjunction with power generation can eliminate the need for gas peaker plants, incentivise renewables, soaking up excesses and shutting down during heat waves etc. Effectively greening the grid by a small %

Further Reductions

   The Banking Sector is said to be responsible for financing 2,805 MTCO₂ /year , Lets say a small hypothetical percentage is invested in Bitcoin instead of fossil fuels. A very small reduction in the banking sector sends Bitcoin emissions negative ! If climate activist wanted a circular economy and de-growth, well here it is.

Bitcoin scope 1,2,3 emissions

  • Scope 1 - Surprisingly virtually none existent. Once a mining farm is built, it's electricity in - Bitcoin, warm air & whirring noise out.
  • Scope 2 - Electricity production. 98% of emissions
  • Scope 3 - Mostly from ASIC manufacturing.

Also see eWaste.

Mining carbon intensity

   According to the Bitcoin Mining Council, their members are utilizing 63.8% "sustainable power mix". When looking at various sources I estimate this at an average of 200 gCO₂/kWh across the entire mining sector.
For comparison the UK live carbon intensity is  
live GB grid intensity gCO2/kWh
Some mining is based in Ontario with a very green 12month average of 76gCO₂/kWh such as Blockfusion that is “completely powered by water fall !”. In Texas USA (where much mining is now located) the 12 month average Grid carbon intensity is 389gCO₂/kWh.

Sources