The Bitcoin network has come under increasing pressure in the media and politics due to its huge energy consumption. An initiative has now emerged from the industry itself to show that Bitcoin is greener than you might think. From a new report from the so-called Bitcoin Mining Council even shows that the network runs 59.5 percent on renewable energy.
Bitcoin energy mix increasingly sustainable
Every quarter, the Bitcoin Mining Council publishes new figures on Bitcoin’s energy mix. This quarter, Bitcoin’s energy mix is 59.5 percent renewable energy.
That figure is 6 percent higher than that of the second quarter of 2021 and 2 percent higher than the first quarter of 2022.
Furthermore, the Bitcoin Mining Council adds that these figures make bitcoin mining one of the most sustainable industries in the world.
Interestingly, the members of the Bitcoin Mining Council even run on 66.8 percent renewable energy.
Currently, this group of miners holds 50.5 percent of the total hashrate. With that energy mix, the Bitcoin network is more sustainable than Germany, South Korea, the United States and many more countries, among others.
Bitcoin mining increasingly efficient
It is also notable that bitcoin mining in general is becoming more efficient. Compared to the second quarter of 2021, hashrate has increased by 137 percent, while energy consumption has only increased by 63 percent.
With this, the network has achieved a 46 percent efficiency increase. More details on industry developments were shared during the YouTube event from the Bitcoin Mining Council.
During this event, chairman Michael Saylor spoke about the fact that bitcoin mining is currently 5,814 percent more efficient than it was eight years ago.
In addition, bitcoin mining is responsible for only 0.09 percent of the world’s 348,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions. Also, bitcoin currently consumes only 0.15 percent of the global energy supply.
Among other things, Michael Saylor seizes on these figures to show that the many claims about the Bitcoin network have proven to be false.
Indeed, in the past people predicted that Bitcoin would consume all the world’s energy around this time. To date, given the numbers, that clearly has not happened. Partly due to the fact that bitcoin mining is becoming more efficient.
Efficiency battles 100 percent focused on energy consumption
Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel indicates that mining efficiency is part of a “vicious cycle” that is making the industry “more and more efficient.”
In the same YouTube event, Thiel goes on to share that Marathon Digital’s efficiency battles are 100 percent focused on energy consumption, because energy is the biggest cost. “When energy prices go up, it forces us to become more efficient,” said Fred Thiel.
As the bitcoin price rises, so does the demand for mining hardware, which ultimately drives innovation.
Slowly but surely, the more efficient machines push the less profitable ones out of the market. Because of that process, the bitcoin mining industry is becoming more and more efficient.
Those efficiency gains from the Bitcoin network come at a time when six U.S. lawmakers, including Elizabeth Warren, have sent letters to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department.
Those letters include a request to require mining companies in the United States to report on their emissions and energy mix.
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