But I don’t care… You shouldn’t either because it’s a false narrative.
- If we start from the premise that the statement ”Bitcoin is boiling the oceans” is demonstrably wrong. We must show why it’s wrong, and the simplest and most direct way to do so is to show who is really boiling the oceans.
- And one logical way to reveal the real boiler of oceans is to define and measure the ability to boil the oceans as generating carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas, which our global scientific collective has decided is the root cause of the boiling of the oceans.
- This simple, yet logical path, gives us a number, which allows us to objectively assign blame for boiling the oceans.
- And since this is a global problem I will look at global numbers. And I will look at the carbon dioxide produced by Bitcoin mining as an industry globally and compare it to the carbon dioxide produced by other industries to determine who might be the real boiler of oceans.
How does the Bitcoin Mining Industry's Carbon dioxide production compare to other industries.
- I have looked for articles comparing the global energy consumption of Bitcoin with the global energy consumption of similar industries like Gold Mining and jewelry Industry, or banks, as in the Finance and Insurance industry. I think you will be surprised by what I found.
How much energy does Bitcoin consume and how much carbon does it produce
- Cambridge Bitcoin Energy Consumption (CBECI) estimates Bitcoin annual energy usage at 79 terawatt hours (79 TWH per year.)- Bitcoin produces 22.1 Megatonnes of carbon per year.
How much energy are the other commodities and industries producing.
Bitcoin versus Building and Construction Industry
Building and Construction
- Electricity 167,472 terrawatt hours (167,472 TWH)
- Bitcoin: 79TWh, or 0.19% of the building and construction industry
Building and Construction Globally
- 36,440 Megatonnes of CO2 per year
- Bitcoin: 22.1 Megatonnes of CO2 per year, or 0.18% of the building and construction industry
Building and construction broken down by sectors:
Non-residential buildings: 9,330 TWh
Residential buildings: 26,481 TWh
Construction: 5,833 TWh
Sector total energy use: 40,830 TWh
Bitcoin: 79TWh, or 0.19% of the building and construction industry.
Sector total emissions: 12,735 MtCO2
Bitcoin: 22.1 Mt CO2 or 0.18% of the building and construction industry
Sector carbon intensity: 330.6 g per kWh (about 20% more intense than Bitcoin)
Source: International Energy Association: Report: Key World Staistics
How does that look on a graph?
You know a picture is as good as a thousand words:Bitcoin is the very small number on the far left
!
NEXT: BITCOIN’S ENERGY USE COMPARED TO THE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY
Transportation Industry Globally Energy Consumption equals 34,582 TWh.
Bitcoin consumption equals 79 TWh, or 0.23% of the transportation industry
Transportation CO2 production equals 8,096 Megatonnes.
Bitcoin CO2 production equals 22.1 Megatonnes, or 0.28% of the transportation industry
Here is a breakdown by types of transportation:
Passenger road vehicles (including buses): 3,643 (45%)
Road freight vehicles: 2,406 (29.7%)
Shipping: 858 (10.6%)
Aviation: 937 (11.6%)
Rail: 78 (1.0%)>Other: 174 (2.1%)
Total emissions: 8,096 Mt CO2
Bitcoin: 22.1 Mt CO2, or 0.28% of the transportation industry
Transportation Sector broken down another way•
Light-duty passenger road vehicles: 15,424 TWh (44.6%)
Air transportation: 4,046 TWh (11.7%)
Bus: 1,321 TWh (3.8%)
Other transportation: 859 TWh (2.5%)
Road freight vehicles (heavy vehicles and other trucks): 8,059 TWh (23.3%)
Marine shipping: 4,063 TWh (11.7%)
Rail: 793 TWh (2.3%)
Total energy use: 34,582 TWh
Bitcoin: 79 TWh, or 0.23% of the transportation industry
How does that look on a graph:Thats Bitcoin, the small number on the far left!
NEXT BITCOIN’S ENERGY USE COMPARED TO THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
- This data is from a famous article produced by the European Journal of Public Health September 2020, “Health Care’s Climate Footprint: The Health Sector Contribution And Opportunities For Action,”
Bottom Line:
Healthcare consumes 3,716 TWh of electricity and produces 1,603 Megatonnes of CO2.
Bitcoin consumes 79 TWH and Bitcoin produces 22.1 Megatonnes of CO2.
- Bitcoin uses only 2.1% of the energy healthcare uses, and emits only 1.4% of the CO2 healthcare does
NEXT Bitcoin versus Gold mining and jewelry industries
Gold mining and jewelry industry consumes 265 TWh of electricity annually and produces 145 megatonnes of CO2 annually•
Bitcoin: consumes 79 TWh of electricity versus 265 TWH, or 29.8% of the gold mining and jewelry industries.•
Bitcoin: produces 22.1 Megatonnes of CO2 versus 145, or 15.2% of the gold mining and jewelrey industries.•
NEXT Bitcoin versus the Finance and Insurance Industry
Studies done by the University of California at Berkeley, using the CoolClimate Network Model- Finance and Energy Industry consumes electricity 4,939 TWH annually
Finance and Energy Industry produces 1,368 megatonnes of carbon dioxide Co2 annulaly/
Bitcoin consumes 79 TWh or 1.6% of Finance and Insurance Industry does
Bitcoin produces 22.1 Megatonnes of CO2 or 1.6% of the amount produced by the Finance and Insurance Industry
NEXT Bitcoin versus Global Military-Industrial Complex
Global Military Industrial Complex consumes 6,691 TWh annually
Global Military Industrial complex produces 2,500 Megatones of carbon dioxide annually
Bitcoin electricity consumption 79 TWh or 1% of Global Military Industrial complex
Bitcoin carbon dioxide production 22.1 Megatonnes or 0.88% of the amount produced by the Global Military Industrial complex . •
Now let us look at the big picture.
- How does Bitcoin compare to all these industries on the same graph: Gold and jewelry, Finance and Insurance, Building and Construction, Healthcare, Transportation and Healthcare graphically.
How does the multiple industry comparison look on a graph?
- This graph has all these industries and Bitcoin on this graph. Bitcoin is the smallest consumer of energy of all of them on the far left.
Last Words
I think this data shows who the real boiler of oceans is and it is not Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is a global phenomenon, and to accurately measure and compare it to other industries we must compare global data to global data.
Once we do this we find that Bitcoin actually consumes a very small amount of energy when compared to other similar global commodity industries like Gold, Finance, Healthcare, Transportation, the Military and the Building & Construction Industry.
This also allows us to see that banning it Bitcoin on the basis of its energy consumption makes no sense because there are no bans on industries which consume far more electricity. If we really believe that carbon dioxide production is boiling our oceans. Then we must also believe that Bitcoin is not boiling our oceans.
I think this data suggests that it is more logical and fair to apply existing laws to Bitcoin.
In closing I suggest you look at this graph below one more time, Bitcoin is on the far left, the smallest number by far for energy consumption.
Perhaps Bitcoin is not the terrible energy hog people think it is?
What do you think?
A picture is worth a thousand words :)
This post was written by 
. He has been writing about cryptocurrency, blockchain and Bitcoin for 7 years.
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References
Buildings Status Report for Building and Construction 2020 Report
International Energy Associations Report titled World Energy Statistics reports
United Nations Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction
Bitcoins energy use compared to other industries
Link: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitcoin-energy-use-compare-industry- European Journal of Public Health September 2020, “Health Care’s Climate Footprint: The Health Sector Contribution And Opportunities For Action-
Link: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitcoin-energy-use-compare-industry