The value of Bitcoin crossed $11000 at the beginning of this week. Consumption by mining it in the last month has increased by nearly 30%.
According to Digiconomist, this expenditure represents approximately 0.13% of the world's total electricity consumption.
Bitcoin energy consumption levels
Bitcoin energy studies were conducted by PowerCompare, a UK-based energy comparison pricing service. According to their analyses, the average electricity used to operate bitcoin in 2017 exceeded the annual energy consumption of more than 159 countries.
This new research used data provided by Digiconomist. The current estimate of electricity used for bitcoin extraction is approximately 30 TWh per year. Digiconomist also found that Ethereum, the second most commonly used cryptocurrency, also spends a huge amount of energy.
Why does Bitcoin consume so much energy?
Bitcoin is a digital money, created and stored electronically. Bitcoins are not printed, like dollars or euros. They are produced by people, and companies, using softwares that solve mathematical problems.
Extracting Bitcoin requires the use of graphics cards or integrated circuits specific to high energy consuming applications.
The exorbitant amounts of energy required to operate the cryptocurrency make it a danger to the environment. This is because much of the world's electricity still comes from fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases. This means that the extraction of cryptocurrency contributes to climate change.