Less than 1% of bitcoin’s hashrate uses only renewable energy


Crypto-currencies and more particularly bitcoin are often criticized for their energy consumption. Initiatives put in place in certain countries make it possible to reduce dependence on fossil fuels – but they are still too few in number.

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, is known for being one of the official currencies of El Salvador, but also for its environmental impact. Its high energy consumption is one of its main controversies, and for years, initiatives have been put in place to reduce its use of fossil fuels and increase the use of solar or wind energy.

According to a study by the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) published in January 2022 on consumption in the last quarter of 2021, bitcoin is increasingly mined using renewable energies. But despite the progress made, there would still be less than 1% of the global hashrate (mining speed) of bitcoin coming from 100% fully renewable energy.

For this Earth Day, April 22, 2022, it is more important than ever to remember the imminence of climate change and the importance of changing our lifestyles and consumption – and for the bitcoin hashrate, it is still too little.

The bitcoin blockchain uses a proof of work protocol. // Source: Kanchanara / Unsplash

Less than 1% of bitcoin hashrate

BMC data on bitcoin energy consumption shows a large improvement in energy consumption: according to their estimate, 58% of miners use a renewable energy mix. If this increase is to be welcomed, it should however be noted that this figure hides a great disparity between the countries where the minors are installed.

For now, only minors installed in Norway use 100% renewable energy to mine bitcoins. And, according to data from Cambridge University, which maintains a bitcoin hashrate map, Norway accounts for just 0.58% of the world’s computing power. An extremely low figure, which further shows how much the bitcoin industry needs to improve.

The hashrate refers to the amount of calculations that the global set of miners is able to perform per second. This is particularly important data to take into account when examining the bitcoin industry, because the protocol used to mine bitcoins, the so-called ” proof of work (or proof of work), requires answering extremely complex equations.

Less than 1% of bitcoin's hashrate uses only renewable energy
Less than 1% of bitcoin’s hashrate comes from 100% renewable energy. // Source: Dmitry Demidko / Unsplash

It is this protocol that ensures the integrity of the bitcoin blockchain: in order to add a new block, miners from all over the world must compete to answer an equation. However, the difficulty of this equation is variable, and adapts with the computing power available on the entire network so that a new block is mined approximately every 10 minutes.

The more miners there are, the more hashrate there is, and therefore the more difficult the equations will be. This explains why bitcoins have become, over time and with the arrival of new miners, increasingly difficult to produce.

Miners in other countries use much more fossil fuels

The hashrate is therefore a very important indicator for the entire bitcoin network. And the fact that only miners based in Norway use 100% renewable energy, for less than 1% of the global hashrate, shows how much effort still needs to be made.

Less than 1% of bitcoin's hashrate uses only renewable energy
A computer park mines crypto-currencies. // Source: Wikimedia Commons

According to data from the University of Cambridge, since China banned bitcoin mining on its soil, the United States is the country that represents the largest share of hashrate: American miners provide 35.40% of global computing power. Next come Kazakstan (18.1% of the hashrate), Russia (11.9%), and Canada (10.8%) — countries whose share of renewable energy in the energy mix is ​​much lower than ‘in Norway.



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