Bitcoin Energy Consumption

How much energy does Bitcoin use ?

All Currencies have a cost. Banks and Gold require electricity, Fossil fuel & staff. 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.
As an environmentalist bitcoins energy consumption is an issue close to my heart. I've found it uses way less energy than Gold mining ! and Banks but more importantly WAY less Green House Gasses !

Bitcoin power consumption = Total World Hash rate X the average efficiency of the mining rigs ( 29 - 60W/THs )

Live energy consumption >

Ths x W/Ths = GW

It could be fully powered by the output of 1 Hydro Dam

This spreadsheet contains my best guesstimate Bitcoins energy consumption & subsequent Green House Gas emissions & then compares that to the Bank sector / fiat emissions.
Some figures are guessed some are unknowable as they constantly shift eg Some Chinese mining is run on Hydro during the wet season, then mining gear is moved to elsewhere to take advantage of cheeper electricity costs. The energy mix of all countries is constantly shifting. Some countries mix is almost 100% renewable electricity eg Scotland & Iceland. Others are mostly coal powered.

As you can see above - If Bitcoin replaces just banks and Gold, Green House Gases could be considerably reduced, then add in banking investments & a reduction in the Military things get really interesting !

Bitcoins power consumption serves three purposes

Minting new coins 96%
Performing transactions 4%
Blockchain nodes almost 0%

By 2028 over 98% coins will be mined and in circulation. Subsequent Halvening's will make it much easier to simply buy rather than mine and the power consumption should drop considerably and ultimately drop to roughly 1% of the emissions of banks. Leaving the world with a much more slim-lined incorruptible economic system of world money. No more bailouts ! The real cost of Banks.

Unexpected Benefits

Reduction in CO₂e from the Oil & Gas companies
Driving advances in more efficient computers
Reducing Banking investment in Oil & Gas
Struggling Pension funds are getting great ( 200%pa ) yield from Bitcoin EG Grayscale

Expected Benefits

Ending any monopoly on the world reserve currency.
Banking the "Unbanked". The developing world could skip the whole banking thing.
Not having to work twice as hard because your savings aren’t being devalued.

Bitcoin vs Government fiat

When we consider the government funds the greatest CO2 producing entity on the planet - The Military Industrial Complex - funded by paper money printing. The sooner Bitcoin can displace fiat the better.

The Cantillion Effect

Why is it that we can buy beans grown in Africa, picked - put in a plastic package - ship round the world, cheaper than growing in our own gardens in the US/UK ? Or minerals mined cheaper than in our own countries ?
Simple -

Buy stuff from China, Africa, South America etc - Print More Money -
Buy stuff from China, Africa, South America etc - Print More Money -
Buy stuff from China, Africa, South America etc - Print More Money - ETC

The developed world has all the stuff. The undeveloped world has lots of rapidly devaluing paper money. We are resource rich they have little. Not only is it the biggest scam ever invented, it’s utterly resource wasteful and effectively enslaves any country or class of people that do not have access to the money printer.
What would be the carbon reduction in ending the West’s money printing scam ? Its tempting to call this RACISM but I prefer to call it EXPLOITATION as this scam applies to all races.

Borrowing from the Future

Financial engineering allows Governments & Banks to consume today what they have not earned & effectively leaving future generations to pick up the tab. This would be seriously curtailed if Bitcoin was world currency.

10 REASONS BITCOIN IS GREEN

Much of Bitcoins energy is derived from renewables (53%).
Bitcoin does not invest. Banks have invested huge amounts in Oil & Gas.
Bitcoin (Money that increases in value) encourages people to save not consume.
Printed money tends to go to pay for big ticket items such as The Military, Nuclear Power stations, Coal fired Power stations.
Bitcoin Incentivises renewables. Previously, excess renewable capacity was switched off, now it can be sold to Bitcoin mining farms.
Second use of heat from Bitcoin mining can be used for space heating.
Previously vented Methane can power Bitcoin mining, converting it to CO₂ a much less potent green house gas.
Low/Negative interest rates in paper money encourage spending beyond peoples means I.E. buying second homes as a speculation, which in turn push up property prices beyond the savers ability to pay. Increased property prices encourage more borrowing against property thats risen in value feeding the loop.
The initial mining "gold rush" is over. Mining is not as profitable as simply holding.
When all coins are minted by the year 2100 mining should decrease significantly.

Second use of the heat

Heat is a by product of Bitcoin mining. The heat from 1 modern ASIC is typically 1.4 - 3.3kW & can be used to heat homes & businesses. Use Green electricity and you have a Zero emissions heater that makes MONEY ! Electricity is converted too heat, it doesn't care if its £50 heater or £7500 ASIC the result is the same. Currently Bitcoin consumption is capable and in many cases is - heating up to 2Million homes.

Bitcoin incentivises Green energy !

Giving a very useful outlet for excess wind, solar (see Sunexchange) and hydro power. In the UK and Germany people are actually PAID TO CONSUME excess wind power, imagine getting paid twice to use power!
In the UK Octopus Energy Agile tariff can go to -3p /kWh.
The mining equipment does not need to run 24/7 and can be quite happily turned off when little renewable energy is available. Load switching/ balancing is hugely advantageous to renewables.

Emissions are also entirely dependent on carbon intensity. The average UK carbon intensity for 2020 was 181gCO2 /kWh.

Bitcoin vs Gold

The Gold industry produces 126MT CO₂ Annually
Gold mining =

Fossil fuel orientated
Destructive to the environment
Requires heavy machinery
Machinery has a high carbon footprint
Downstream Consumption

In 2013 it took 25.8 gallons of Diesel to produce 1 ounce of gold !

Bitcoin tends to use the cheapest electricity which is usually the greenest EG excess power from

Excess Hydro from dams in China
Wind
Solar
Geothermal energy from Iceland. The by product - heat is then reused for heating homes.

It's the emissions produced in making the energy and destruction of enviroment that is important !

Bitcoin vs the Dollar & Banks

How do we add all the proof of work that has gone into the Dollar, Pound or Yen ?
*the petro dollar”

The Dollar is said to be "Backed by men with Guns" . The Military is one of the biggest polluters.

Should we factor into the Dollar, the emissions of the oil industry, the military,& manufacturing?

Bitcoin currently has only 13% of the Banks emissions and thats before you factor in the financing of virtually all the oil exploration !

More here from Fossilbanks.
https://www.fossilbanks.org

These 38 Fossil Banks are among the biggest financiers of the fossil fuel industry. A handful have adopted policies excluding or restricting financing for some parts of the industry, but none have yet committed to stop funding fossil fuels altogether.

Stranded Energy

In the Oil and Gas industry, previously “stranded” energy in the form of Methane has been flared or worse, vented. Methane is 86 x more potent Greenhouse Gas than CO₂. Now the gas is being increasingly used for bitcoin mining. Burning the gas efficiently to produce electricity is a net climate positive as long as its using abandoned flares and Vents. This has huge potential for CO₂e Reduction of the Oil & Gas industry !

Ironic that the Oil & Gas industry could be self incentivised to clean up it own mess and be a "green" industry leader !

How Bitcoin Mining Is Disrupting Global Energy Markets

https://denverbitcoin.medium.com/

Buying vs Mining

As the price rises will Bitcoins energy consumption rise ?

I think we may actually be at peak mining energy consumption for the following reasons.

Mining equipment has got really expensive - $9300 for Bitmain S19j
Typically Bitcoins value increases 200% every year ! Compound interest rates on steroids !
Instead of investing in mining equipment, wages, electricity over the next few years, with a rapidly rising price it may simply be much better investment to simply buy BTC IMMEDIATELY .
Research & development for the next generation of ASIC's is even more expensive than mining.

In the early days the mining reward was much greater ( 50BTC ) so was worth the investment, but now if you are a company like Bitmain looking to invest in Research & Development to bring the next generation of ASIC to market, would you employ staff, buy machinery costing millions$ or simply buy & hold and go on holiday and make FAR MORE money?

I do not see a huge increase in mining energy consumption and quite possibly a reduction. ASIC mining gear is fetching highly inflated prices at the moment. Some people may actually sell there gear to invest in the coin its self. Hash rate may increase as old slow ASICs are replaced for new ones. Major innovations from Bitmain or anyone else seem a long way off at the moment.

Bitcoins Green Credentials Conclusion

If you really want to be green shut down -

Gold mining
Banks !

Military Industrial Complex

Bitcoin could do that without a shot being fired, how green is that ?!