BTC, Bitcoin, a leading coin in cryptocurrency, has seen a 41% increase in energy consumption in the past 12 months. There were many improvements in energy efficiency and a more diverse and sustainable energy mix from Bitcoin, but this effort could not work for them. This increase in energy consumption has raised concerns that regulators could clamp down on crypto mining.
This data came from Bitcoin Mining Council’s Q3 2022 report, in which there are 51 world’s largest Bitcoin mining companies. In the report, According to BMC, Bitcoin mining consumes 0.16% of global energy production, which is slightly less than the energy consumed by computer games. This amount of energy is considered an inconsequential amount of global energy. 0.10% of the world’s carbon emissions are emitted by Bitcoin mining.
The main reason behind the increase in energy consumption was the increased hash rate, which increased 8.34% in Q3 2022 and 73% YoY. There are fewer blocks produced and prices are also down, but still, the energy consumption rate is high.
In a tweet, Michael Sailer said that in Q3 2022 report, Bitcoin mining efficiency increased 23% YoY, and the sustainable power mix was 59.4%, above 50% for the 6th quarter in a row. Moreover, he said that the network was 73% more secure YoY, only using 41% more energy, and is now 99% of all crypto hashing power.
According to a Blockchain data analytics firm, Glassnode, the hash rate rise is due to more efficient mining hardware coming online. Glassnode also believes that the hash rate is due to miners with superior balance sheets having a larger share of the hash power network.
There is already enough energy consumption by Bitcoin, but if this increase, it could draw the ire of regulators examining the issue. The environmentalists also increasing pressure on Bitcoin miners that their power consumption is harmful to the environment. Greenpeace is currently running a campaign to encourage the Bitcoin network to move to proof-of-stake, in which they are saying that change the code, not the climate.
