Until the end of 2018, bitcoin mining costs will be around 1% of our planet's total energy consumption. These results are contained in a recent study conducted by economist Alex de Fris, reports The Independent.
According to the expert, the results of the study are published in the scientific journal Joule, currently bitcoin Bitcoin consumes approximately 2.55 GW of electricity and safely moves to the level of 7.67 GW in the future. By way of comparison, the whole of Ireland consumes 3.1 GW, Austria - 8.2 GW. As de Vries points out, in this sense, Bitcoin is now "a big problem and it grows very fast, but developments like Lightning Network can help in its solution".
As the newspaper points out, the calculations necessary to extract bitcoins in Iceland itself, for example, already consume more electricity than ordinary citizens of the country. At the same time, it will not diminish the discussion about how much the cryptocurrency damages the environment.
In his study, it is observed that at present it is already possible to designate several types of bitcoin-miners that differ in the volumes of energy consumption. However, "the exact calculation of electricity, which is used to extract bitcoin, is still a very difficult task". As an average arithmetic, De Vries used the Antminer system from Chinese manufacturer Bitmain.
The scientist considers that the main task of his report is to "catalyze the discussion", since such studies have not been carried out. According to De Vries, the world needs a "more scientific discussion about the direction in which the bitcoin network moves."
Recall, before, the technology giant IBM announced a partnership with an environmental specialist called Vertex Labs to take advantage of joint emissions of carbon emissions.