Digiconomist (@DigiEconomist) / X

Digiconomist

7,048 posts

Digiconomist

@DigiEconomist

Exposing the Unintended Consequences of Digital Trends. Mastodon: @[email protected] Bluesky: @digiconomist.bsky.social

Joined February 2014

Pinned
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Oct 10, 2023
It has been nine years since Digiconomist was first launched with the objective of “exposing the unintended consequences of digital trends.” For a big part of these nine years, the sustainability of digital assets such as Bitcoin has been a key focus of the research by
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Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Jan 1, 2022
Some statistics to start the year: During 2021 Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total, which is comparable to the electrical energy consumed by a country like Argentina. Related CO2 emissions were ~64 Mt; enough to negate the entire global net savings from deploying EVs.
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Jun 30, 2022
The crypto crash is having a (so far) lasting impact on related carbon emissions. 150,000 metric tonnes of CO2 are avoided each day compared to before the crash. The total reductions over the past weeks already amount to a quarter of annual CO2 reductions by Tesla vehicles.
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Jan 1, 2022
Replying to @DigiEconomist
The power consumed per Bitcoin transaction on average could power an average US household for more than 1.5 months. The carbon footprint of just one Bitcoin transaction amounts to 658kg of CO2, which is equal to the carbon footprint of almost 1.5 million VISA transactions.
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Jun 12, 2022
So far, the current Ethereum price crash is doing more for the environment than the planned move to PoS. Compared to just three weeks ago, estimated carbon emissions related to the ETH network have gone down by around 30,000 metric tons of CO2 per day.
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Jan 1, 2022
Replying to @DigiEconomist
In 2021 the Bitcoin network handled ~97 million transactions. This equals roughly 0.012% of the worldwide volume of non-cash transactions. Bitcoin was responsible for 0.54% of global electricity consumption. On average, that's 1,386 kWh per Bitcoin transaction.
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Jun 14, 2022
As the Bitcoin/Ethereum crash continues, the combined reduction in energy consumption of these networks now equals that of a country like Austria The reduction in global carbon emissions could be 110,000 metric tons of CO2 per day - almost as much as global CO2 reductions by EVs
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Jan 1, 2022
Replying to @DigiEconomist
It's also a bigger carbon footprint than the per passenger carbon footprint of a direct flight from Amsterdam to New York. In total, the Bitcoin network consumed ~89% more energy in 2021 than in 2020. For more numbers check out:
digiconomist.net
Bitcoin Historic Sustainability Performance - Digiconomist
Summary of the sustainability progress and performance of Bitcoin over the past month, based on historical data from the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index.
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Mar 13, 2022
The carbon footprint of a single Bitcoin transaction now at an eye-watering 1259 kilograms of CO2. That’s about the same as the per passenger carbon footprint of a transatlantic flight from London to New York and back(!)
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Mar 13, 2022
1 VISA transaction consumes about 1.5 Wh of electricity on average. The average energy use per Bitcoin transaction is 2258 kWh. A BTC transaction requires roughly 1.5 million times the same amount of electrical energy; enough to power a single US household for 2.5 months.
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Jan 1, 2023
Let’s start the year by reflecting on the colossal waste of resources in Bitcoin mining: During 2022 Bitcoin consumed 161 TWh of electricity in total, exceeding a country such as Sweden. Related CO2 emissions were ~90 Mt; again negating the entire global net savings from EVs.
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Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Jun 13, 2022
BREAKING: The current price crash is causing Bitcoin’s environmental impact to slide as well. Every further $1,000 drop in the BTC price will reduce the network’s carbon emissions by more than 10 metric kilotons of CO2 per day.
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Mar 13, 2022
1 VISA transaction consumes about 1.5 Wh of electricity on average. The average energy use per Bitcoin transaction is 2258 kWh. A BTC transaction requires roughly 1.5 million times the same amount of electrical energy; enough to power a single US household for 2.5 months.
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Mar 12, 2022
The main issue is that Bitcoin, by design, requires energy (and hardware) to be wasted on making useless computations. Running this industry on renewables only pushes up the use of fossil fuels elsewhere and doesn’t address e-waste concerns at all. You can’t sustainably waste RES
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Nov 19, 2021
Bitcoin processing 100 million transactions per year equals about 0.014% of the number of digital payments handled by traditional financial institutions annually. Meanwhile Bitcoin is responsible for 1% of global electricity consumption. It’s the least efficient tech ever created
Digiconomist
@DigiEconomist
Mar 14, 2022
“Bitcoin is getting more efficient” Average energy consumed per BTC transaction: 2017: 169kWh 2018: 768kWh 2019: 563kWh 2020: 627kWh 2021: 1,386kWh Current: 2,316kWh Avg. per US household per day: 29kWh Bitcoin’s capacity is limited, but there’s no ceiling to the energy usage