Journalist
Posted:
- The revised annual estimate for Bitcoin mining in 2021 was 14% less than the previous estimate.
- CBECI indicated that the option to lower carbon emissions estimates was also on the table.
Bitcoin over the years [BTC] Mining has drawn a lot of criticism from environmentalists and crypto counterparts, who accuse it of being one of the most energy-hungry industries and a major emitter of greenhouse gases.
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Bitcoin consumes less power
In this regard, the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) emerged as one of the most popular data portals tracking Bitcoin’s power needs and associated environmental impact in real time.
This data is regularly monitored by experts and participants from different industries to gain actionable insights.
The research group recently assessed the methodology used in measuring the electricity consumption of the king coin. Previous projections were significantly lowered as a result of the upgrade and its retroactive implementation.
According to CBECI, the pre-2021 models were considered reliable. However, from 2021, the inconsistencies began to surface. The revised annual estimate was 89.0 terawatt hours (TWh), 14% less than the previous estimate of 104.0 TWh.
In addition, the estimate for 2022 has been reduced by 9.8 TWh, from 105.3 TWh to 95.5 TWh. Even for 2023, the estimate was reduced from 75.7 TWh to 70.4 TWh as of August 15.
The revised figures were comparable to the electricity consumption of countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands, and clothes dryers in the US
Source: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index
The reason behind the mismatch
The discrepancies emerged due to inaccurate tapping of mining hardware-related data, CBECI admitted.
“We found that more recently released equipment seemed to be underrepresented, and equipment approaching end-of-life was overrepresented.”
Over time, more efficient mining equipment has flooded the market, producing a higher hash rate per unit of electricity consumed. As a result, a disproportionate number of older appliances compared to newer ones can dramatically alter final energy consumption figures.
The updated methodology highlighted the dramatic improvement in mining hardware efficiency. For 2021, the older figure of 74.2 joules per terahash (J/TH) was significantly higher than the revised model’s estimate of 63.6 J/TH. The new model also showed better efficiency in subsequent years.
Source: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index
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Will emissions estimates also fall?
Much to the delight of Bitcoin supporters, CBECI indicated that the option of lowering carbon emissions estimates was also on the table, as they wanted to account for emerging concepts that had been overlooked in previous studies.
At the time of writing, the network’s annual emissions were expected to reach 57.26 MtCO2e, higher than those of countries such as Chile and Burkina Faso.