The Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) has released a new report offering an insight into Bitcoin mining energy consumption months after the asset came under criticism over its carbon footprint.
The report notes that Bitcoin mining at 188 TW/h accounts for only 0.38% of the global 50,000TW/h energy that goes to waste due to inefficiencies. Elsewhere, compared to the worldwide energy consumption, Bitcoin mining only accounts for a share of 0.12%.
Worth noting is that Bitcoin mining has come under sharp criticism from environmentalists over its carbon footprint. After the asset surged to a new all-time high in April this year, the debate on energy consumption accelerated partly contributing to Bitcoin’s drop in value.
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The report further notes that in the United States, almost 65% of the produced energy is lost or goes to waste. In this case, the Bitcoin network can potentially be consuming only 2.8% of the United States’ wasted energy.
Shift to renewable sources
Furthermore, BMC indicates that currently, Bitcoin mining largely relies on renewable sources following the backlash from mid this year. Focus on renewable sources emerged after China banned Bitcoin mining, with BMC claiming that companies under the forum deploy 65.9% of the green sources to power their mining operation.
“Bitcoin mining is not just more sustainable than any country. It’s also a more efficient use of energy, and it’s negligible use of energy compared to every other industry,” said BMC CEO Michael Saylor.
According to BMC, Bitcoin’s energy usage should reduce in the future, with the primary focus on upgrading hardware to be more efficient. Similarly, the council also notes that increased utilization of renewable sources will likely lower the cryptocurrency’s environmental impact.
Backlash over Bitcoin’s energy consumption
The council was formed in June to deal with the Bitcoin power consumption backlash amid increased institutional adoption of the asset. The debate saw companies like electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) suspending Bitcoin payments citing the environmental issues. However, CEO Elon Musk expressed support for the group.
Amid surging Bitcoin prices, the assets mining power is also increasing. As we previously reported, as of October 24th, 2021, the Bitcoin hash rate stood at 151.21 EH/s, only 22% shy of the all-time high mining power of 188.66 EH/s. The figure potentially indicates that the disruption caused in mining is now behind the sector.
[coinbase]
