The Energy Footprint of Bitcoin Mining

Bitcoin mining is a significant consumer of energy, with estimates suggesting that it accounts for around 0.2% of global energy consumption.

The energy footprint of Bitcoin mining is substantial, with some estimates suggesting that it uses more electricity than entire countries.

The energy consumption of Bitcoin mining is largely due to the massive amounts of computational power required to solve complex mathematical equations and validate transactions on the blockchain.

According to some estimates, the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining is equivalent to the energy consumption of a small country like Belgium.

Bitcoin mining is a highly energy-intensive process. The Bitcoin network uses about the same amount of electricity as Washington State does yearly.

The energy consumption of Bitcoin mining has increased about tenfold in just the past five years. This is a staggering increase, and it's not hard to see why.

The Bitcoin network uses more than a third of what residential cooling in the United States uses up. This is a significant amount of energy, and it's not just a matter of individual homes using more energy.

Bitcoin miners now have warehouses packed with powerful computers, racing at top speed to guess big numbers and using tremendous quantities of energy in the process. This is a far cry from the early days of Bitcoin, when anyone with a computer could easily mine at home.

The energy consumption of Bitcoin mining is not just a matter of individual miners using more energy. The 10 Texas mines identified by The Times use more than 1,800 megawatts of energy combined, forcing more expensive power generators to run.

Here are some examples of the energy consumption of individual Bitcoin mines:

The energy consumption of Bitcoin mining is not just a matter of individual mines using more energy. It's also a matter of the entire network using more energy overall.

Bitcoin mining energy consumption is a significant concern, and it's essential to understand the scale of energy usage by country and mine. The article highlights that 99% of the power demand of the Stronghold Digital Mining operation in Nesquehoning, Pa., is met by fossil fuel plants, causing 192,000 tons of carbon pollution each year.

The article also notes that the 10 Texas mines identified by The Times use more than 1,800 megawatts of energy combined, forcing more expensive power generators to run. This has increased power bills in the state by $1.8 billion a year, according to the Wood Mackenzie simulation.

Here's a breakdown of the energy usage by some of the largest Bitcoin mines in the US:

These numbers demonstrate the significant impact of Bitcoin mining on energy consumption and carbon emissions.

The average household electricity consumption varies greatly from country to country, with the United States averaging around 900 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month, while Australia averages around 1,200 kWh per month.

In the US, a significant portion of this energy is used for heating and cooling, with air conditioning alone accounting for around 12% of total household energy consumption.

The average household in Australia uses around 30% of their energy for heating, with gas being the primary source of heat.

In contrast, households in Germany average around 4,400 kWh per month, with a significant portion of this energy being used for heating and cooking with electric appliances.

Germany's high energy consumption is largely due to its cold climate, with many households relying on electric heating systems to stay warm during the winter months.

The European Union as a whole averages around 3,000 kWh per month per household, with a significant portion of this energy being used for heating and cooking.

The United States has a significant carbon footprint due to Bitcoin mining. The 13 publicly listed mining companies that account for one-fourth of the total network hashrate as of the end of 2022 cause 7.2 MtCO2 of emissions each year, surpassing the carbon emissions of the State of Vermont.

These mining companies consume a substantial amount of electricity, with a carbon intensity of 397 gCO2/kWh, which is nearly equivalent to the U.S. grid average of 387 gCO2/kWh.

The majority of Bitcoin mining in the U.S. is fueled by fossil fuels, with 92% of the power demand of the Core Scientific mine in Denton, Texas, being met by fossil fuel plants, causing 501,000 tons of carbon pollution each year.

Some of the largest Bitcoin mines in the U.S. include Riot Platforms in Rockdale, Texas, which uses 450 MW of power and causes 1,918,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year, and Atlas Power in Williston, N.D., which uses 240 MW of power and causes 1,043,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

Here are some of the largest Bitcoin mines in the U.S., listed in order of their energy usage:

During the winter storm Elliott in December 2022, Bitcoin miners curtailed as much as 100 Exahashes per second (EH/s), equivalent to 38% of the total Bitcoin network hashrate on that day, providing empirical evidence that at least 38% of all Bitcoin mining activity was located in the U.S. and Canada by December 2022.

Bitcoin's electricity usage is staggering, and it's comparable to that of some countries. The more computer power you have, the more guesses you can make quickly, so unlike at the casino, where you have just one die to roll at human speed, you can have many computers making many, many guesses every second.

The United States, for example, uses a lot of electricity, but Bitcoin's usage is still around 0.2% of the country's total electricity consumption. To put that into perspective, Bitcoin's electricity usage is roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of a small country like Sri Lanka.

In terms of actual numbers, Bitcoin's daily electricity usage is around 73 TWh, which is roughly the same as the daily electricity usage of countries like Belgium or Switzerland.

Bitcoin mining has come a long way since its early days, and technological advancements have played a significant role in its evolution. The first mining hardware used standard personal computers, but they soon gave way to more efficient GPUs, which were approximately 6 times more efficient at mining than CPUs.

The introduction of FPGAs in 2011 marked a significant leap in efficiency, making them faster than top-tier GPUs due to their flexibility in hardware and software configuration. This shift in mining hardware was driven by the growing competition for block rewards and the increasing computational demands of the network.

The development of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) in 2011 had a profound impact on the network, leading to a dramatic surge in hashrate. This trend underscores the evolving paradigm in bitcoin mining, transitioning from conventional at-home devices to dedicated mining hardware.

The hashrate, a measure of the network's computing power, has increased dramatically over the years. This is largely due to advancements in mining hardware, which has led to equipment that is not only more efficient but also substantially more powerful.

The introduction of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) in the early 2010s was a significant turning point, with the Bitmain Antminer S9, a flagship model from 2016, boasting a hashrate of 11.5 TH/s.

The rapid growth in hashrate has made mining bitcoin more difficult, compelling miners to contribute more computational power to maintain the same reward level. This directly influences the profitability of mining operations.

In fact, the average daily Bitcoin network hashrate has increased substantially since its inception in January 2009. The steep rise from 2009 to 2011 can be attributed to the growing interest in the network and the transition from using CPUs to GPUs and FPGAs.

The dramatic surge in hashrate after the introduction of ASICs is equally striking, with the Bitmain Antminer S19 XP, a 2022 flagship model, delivering a hashrate of 140 TH/s. Even more powerful models, like the Bitmain Antminer S19 XP Hydro, achieved 260 TH/s that same year.