Letna poraba energije Bitcoina je že minila leta 2020: raziskave

Medtem ko skrbi glede porabe energije Bitcoina obstajajo, nove analize kažejo, da je omrežje že porabilo več energije kot v celotnem lanskem letu.

Naraščajoča poraba energije Bitcoina

As poročali by Bloomberg, “the network reportedly consumed about 67TWh of electricity in 2020, and its total consumption has already surpassed this in 2021”. By the end of the year, the analysts predict that Bitcoin will have used 91 TWh of electricity, rivaling the consumption of Pakistan. Further data Napovedi an even higher number at 95 TWh.

This number has a tendency to fluctuate, however. Events such as the Bitcoin mining zatrtje in China earlier this year took a tremendous amount of hash power off the Bitcoin network, which was as high as 141TWh in May, dropping to 68 TWh in June.

Na splošno je pričakovati tudi večjo porabo energije, ko se cena Bitcoina dvigne. Rudarstvo-najbolj energetsko intenziven vidik omrežja Bitcoin-redno nagrajuje tiste, ki porabijo največ energije z novimi bitcoini. Kot poročilo poudarja, zato rudarjenje s povečanjem vrednosti Bitcoin postaja vse bolj donosno, kar prinaša več energije v omrežje - tudi če ni tako učinkovito.

Ali je uporaba energije bitcoina umirajoča težava?

Mnogi naredijo napako, ko enačijo povečano porabo energije s škodo za okolje - kar ni nujno res, ko gre za Bitcoin.

Data from July predlaga that Bitcoin’s carbon footprint has declined significantly since Elon Musk raised concerns about it in May. This is largely due to the max exodus of hash power from China – a coal-reliant mining country – to locations with lower-cost renewable energy options such as Texas.

Furthermore, July’s “B-Word” conference ponujen some insights revealing that Bitcoin mining has always been relatively renewable. Figures suggest between 34-46% sustainable energy use on the network, while only being responsible for 0.1% of global CO2 emissions.

Tudi Elon Musk je takrat priznal, da se rudarjenje Bitcoina že razvija v smeri obnovljivih virov in da bo zaradi tega verjetno še naprej sprejemal Bitcoin za nakupe Tesle.