Ethereum: Can it be true that the Bitcoin system consumes almost $ 1,000,000 electricity per day?
The first decentralized cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin, was appreciated as a revolutionary force for financial transactions in the world. However, like any complex network, its infrastructure requires significant energy to operate. The question in everyone’s mind is as follows: how much electricity consumes daily?
According to various estimates, the Bitcoin system consumes almost $ 1,000,000 electricity per day. Yes, you read that well – worth almost a million dollars just to manage this decentralized network.
To put this in perspective, take a look at the numbers that will turn their heads.
Total toxication of bitcoin hash
The total bitcoin hash rate is currently 300,000,000 GH / S (Gigahashes per second). To break it more:
- 1 gigahash = 1 billion calculations per second
- 300 gigahashs per second = 300,000,000 calculations per second
Hashrate of an Antmin S4
Now take a look at the axing rate of an S4 antimant, which is one of the most popular bitcoin extraction platforms on the market.
An Antmin S4 can reach a hash rate of approximately 120 TH / S (Terhashes per second). To put this in perspective:
- 1 terahash = 100 billion calculations per second
- 120 terahashes per second = 12,000,000 seconds per second
Energy consumption
Now that we have an idea of the hash and energy consumption rate of the mining platform, to do something mathematics to estimate the amount of electricity consumed daily.
Assuming a constant hash level, we can divide total energy production by the number of seconds in one day (86,400) to obtain an estimate of the daily energy consumption. For example:
300,000,000 GH / S ÷ 120 TH / S = 2,500,000 calculations per second
Now suppose that each calculation requires approximately 0.1 kWh of power (an approximate estimate). This results in daily consumption of energy from:
2,500,000 calculations per second × 0.1 kWh / calculation = 250,000 kWh per day
Conversion to dollars, we get:
250,000 USD per day ÷ 1000 (to convert KWH to dollars) = $ 250,000 per day
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Bitcoin system consumes almost $ 1,000,000 electricity per day. Although this may seem an incredible amount of energy, it is essential to note that it is simply an estimate and that real energy consumption can vary depending on several factors.
It should also be noted that this energy consumption can have a significant impact on the environment. For example, the carbon footprint of Bitcoin exploitation was estimated at around 1.2 GW (gigawatts) per year, which is comparable to a small country like Portugal.
Because the world continues to adopt decentralized technologies and cryptocurrencies, it is essential to consider the environmental implications of these systems. It may be time to rethink our energy consumption approach and explore more sustainable alternatives?
Sources:
- Bitmain official website
- Antmin’s official website
- Energy consumption estimates from various sources (for example Coindesk, CNET)
- Environmental impact assessments of organizations such as Sierra Club