Bitcoin Miners Consume More Energy Than Argentina
BTC mining consumes more and more electricity. The total yearly power consumption of miners already exceeds figures associated with entire countries, such as Argentina, for example.
- Bitcoin mining, according to Cambridge University simulations, consumes over 121 TWh of energy per year, which is about the same as Norway.
Interest in cryptocurrencies is on the rise, especially Bitcoin, which is both a consequence of its current value and the reason for it. Many people see it as an opportunity to make some money, especially people who bought BTC in the past at a low price. Others have become interested in the topic only now and are investing in "mining" equipment, or even entire rigs. There would be nothing wrong with this, if not for the energy consumption, which is constantly growing. The number of miners is constantly increasing, resulting in a shortage of GeForce RTX 3000 cards in stores, which are their favorite "picks", and the whole "business" consumes more electricity than Argentina at this point.
Such data are provided by scientists from Cambridge University. The current energy consumption exceeds 121 TWh per year, which is the level of e.g. Netherlands or Norway. However, these are not actual data, but a simulation. Estimating the actual consumption is impossible at the moment. The model used by CBECI (Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index) is based on data of the hardware used for mining Bitcoin (combined power of GPUs and other "mining" tools).
Graph of simulated Bitcoin power consumption. Source: Cambridge
"Given that the exact electricity consumption cannot be determined, the CBECI provides a range of possibilities consisting of a lower bound (floor) and an upper bound (ceiling) estimate. Within the boundaries of this range, a best-guess estimate is calculated to provide a more realistic figure that we believe comes closest to Bitcoin’s real annual electricity consumption."
The graph shows three lines, with the bottom line corresponding to the power consumption assuming the most energy-efficient approach to BTC mining, and the top line using the full power of the hardware. The middle one is a reflection of the most likely situation, i.e. a median, updated based on the weekly average. This means that if suddenly all miners poured all their available power into mining BTC, the total energy consumption could reach even 288 TWh. At least in theory and on an annual basis.
I like the terms used by BBC to describe the situation:
"The energy it uses could power all kettles used in the UK for 27 years."
The premise of cryptocurrencies is to create a way to pay and accumulate financial resources independent of anyone. However, in terms of energy, Bitcoin has already created its own country. The question is, is that the price we have to pay for freedeom? Terawatts of energy?
Elon Musk took a step that is not very compatible with the pro-environmental approach created by Tesla by investing $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. This caused a further increase in the price and interest in the cryptocurrency. And thus - possible problems with the purchase of GPUs by gamers and the growth of Bitcoin's "electric country". The only thing left is to put our hopes in renewable sources and nuclear energy. If so much energy has to be spent on mining, let it at least be "clean".
