Feb 12, 2021 23:00:00

Cambridge University explains in an easy-to-understand manner the power consumption of Bitcoin mining, which consumes national level power

Cryptocurrency assets such as Bitcoin can acquire newly issued cryptocurrency assets by performing a process called mining that solves complicated calculations using a computer. Large-scale computer equipment is required for efficient mining, and mining is performed while consuming enormous power all over the world. The University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom has released the ' Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) ', which shows the power consumption of such Bitcoin mining in an easy-to-understand manner.

Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI)
https://cbeci.org/

On the CBECI home page, the theoretical minimum, estimated, and theoretical maximum power consumption of Bitcoin mining around the world is updated every 30 seconds. At the time of writing the article, Bitcoin mining consumed a minimum of 4.20 GW, an estimated 13.41 GW, and a maximum of 46.14 GW every 30 seconds. In addition, the average annual power consumption marked in yellow letters is a minimum of 42.05TWh, an estimated 123.99TWh, and a maximum of 281.76TWh.

The transition of power consumption from October 2015 to February 2021 looks like this. The black line in the upper row is the theoretical maximum value, the yellow line in the middle row is the estimated value, and the yellow line in the lower row is the theoretical minimum value. It can be seen that the power consumption is on the rise as a whole, especially from around November 2020.

The ratio of the power consumption by Bitcoin mining to the total power generation and power consumption in the world is like this. The total power generation in the world is 25,082 TWh, of which 0.49% is consumed by Bitcoin mining. In addition, the total power consumption in the world is 20,863 TWh, and the power consumption by Bitcoin mining accounts for 0.57% of that.

Comparing the amount of power generated by

renewable energy and the amount of power consumed by Bitcoin mining, it looks like this. The total amount of electricity generated by hydroelectric power generation around the world is 4164 TWh, which is 34 times the amount of electricity consumed by bitcoin mining. In addition, in power generation using biofuels and waste, 577 TWh of power is generated, which is five times the power consumption of bitcoin mining. Solar power generation and wind power generation generate 1405 TWh of electricity, which is 11 times the power consumption of bitcoin mining.

Comparing the power consumption of countries around the world with the power consumption of Bitcoin mining, it looks like this. It can be seen that the power consumption of Bitcoin mining is higher than 110.68 TWh in the Netherlands (Netherlands) and 119.45 TWh in the United Arab Emirates.

If you insert the power consumption by Bitcoin mining into the power consumption ranking by country, it will be ranked 31st. You can see that the power consumption by Bitcoin mining has reached the national level.

Comparing the power consumption of Bitcoin mining by country, China occupies 65.08% of the total and takes the first place, followed by the United States (7.24%) in second place and Russia (6.9%) in third place. ..

In addition, CBECI compares the power consumption of Bitcoin mining with the power consumption of various things. For example, 'devices that are always on but not in use' in the United States consume 1.8 times the power consumed by Bitcoin mining.

Also, if you convert the annual power consumption of Bitcoin mining into the energy to boil water with a kettle, you can boil water from a kettle all over the UK for 28 years and water from a kettle all over Europe for 4.1 years.

In addition, the amount of electricity consumed by Bitcoin mining in one year is enough to supply the entire University of Cambridge for 704 years.

In addition, due to the large amount of power consumption by Bitcoin mining, it has been pointed out that 'the temperature of the earth will rise by 1.5 degrees or more within 20 years just by mining Bitcoin', and there is concern about the impact on the global environment. ..

Global warming will reach its limit by 2033 with Bitcoin mining alone --GIGAZINE