Bitcoin already using too much power by 2020?

[BurtW]

i think 2020 is too far to say any thing about that. but the power of the bitcoin can be realize from today. the present condition of the bitcoins shows its position clearly.

If the bitcoin price just double from the current price, it will use similar amount of energy as now. So no worries.

TRUE:  If the price were to just about double about every four years then the Bitcoin Network would continue to consume about as much energy as it consumes today.  But, if the price more than doubles over each era then it will consume more than it does today.

2020 is pretty far from now.

I'm sure someday the devs will come up with something to solve the potential problem.

Since power consumption is fundamental to the design of Bitcoin it would take a fundamental change (like PoS or PoS/PoW hybrid as suggested) to change this.  I personally do not believe that a change this fundamental would ever be accepted by the majority of miners and nodes.  We will see.

[Zulucia]

i think 2020 is too far to say any thing about that. but the power of the bitcoin can be realize from today. the present condition of the bitcoins shows its position clearly.

If the bitcoin price just double from the current price, it will use similar amount of energy as now. So no worries.

TRUE:  If the price were to just about double about every four years then the Bitcoin Network would continue to consume about as much energy as it consumes today.  But, if the price more than doubles over each era then it will consume more than it does today.

2020 is pretty far from now.

I'm sure someday the devs will come up with something to solve the potential problem.

Since power consumption is fundamental to the design of Bitcoin it would take a fundamental change (like PoS or PoS/PoW hybrid as suggested) to change this.  I personally do not believe that a change this fundamental would ever be accepted by the majority of miners and nodes.  We will see.

The bitcoin's energy problem is less than the Etheruem. If the Ethereum continue to rise in price, its power consumption will be a lot as it does not have the block halving mechanism. But it will be PoS in the future.

[takingthis4]

I actually believe that if the currency price of BTC will potentially going to grow, eventually the electrical costs for mining will also increase, it will simply take more blocks/bigger hash speed to build it up.

Though it really depends on the country you live in, it's all relevant to the price of the electricity, anything can happen. I could be wrong on that though, so correct me if I misunderstood it, since this is quite interesting.

[gilang]

It would be better to install solar panels and wind turbines because renewable energy is the future.
 

[ning_chang]

I just stumbled upon this article that claims Bitcoin could be consuming as much energy as Denmark by 2020  Since I gave up mining in 2014, I've almost forgotten just how much electricity goes into making Bitcoins. This got me wondering whether the devs are already working on a solution to this problem. Anyone knows what the plan is?

http://inhabitat.com/power-hungry-bitcoin-could-consume-as-much-energy-as-denmark-by-2020/

for in my opinion would be nice BTC in 2020, but no one knows what happens in the future. super advance of the question

[2double0]

It would be better to install solar panels and wind turbines because renewable energy is the future.
 

The power Bitcoin takes to run its network is too much already, that even solar panels won't be able to provide that much.

[funbarrel]

It would be better to install solar panels and wind turbines because renewable energy is the future.
 

i think thats true though chinese usually have cheap electricity thus i dont think we nee new electricity sources

[hawkins]

but I think the power will always be on the upgrade.
I think every country that has received the bitcoin will create its own power for bitcoin, to make bitcoin is growing. it is because bitcoin is able to change the ecosystem of a country.

[MingLee]

but I think the power will always be on the upgrade.
I think every country that has received the bitcoin will create its own power for bitcoin, to make bitcoin is growing. it is because bitcoin is able to change the ecosystem of a country.

There isn't any requirement for countries to generate power for Bitcoin, and a lot of the energy used for those who mine Bitcoin is drawn from the civilian grid and not being subsidized from any other source. Bitcoin might change up the economies of countries in the future, but that is a far ways away and Bitcoin will have to be valued far more highly than it is now.

[MFahad]

Any crisis can be solved in a few different ways and innovation is one of them even more so the crisis brings innovation.
If  Bitcoin's intrinsic value is high enough nothing and nobody will stop it.
And that is a power what is greater then energy required to run it

Even if bitcoin mining uses lot of power now and it will be using more power by 2020, it does not mean that we abandon the project. There are ways we can eliminate waste and get energy efficient systems to get this done.

[BurtW]

Even if bitcoin mining uses lot of power now and it will be using more power by 2020, it does not mean that we abandon the project. There are ways we can eliminate waste and get energy efficient systems to get this done.

Wrong.  The efficiency of the mining equipment only affects the mining difficulty.  It does not affect the power consumption of the Bitcoin mining network.

It would be better to install solar panels and wind turbines because renewable energy is the future.
 

The source of the power generated has no affect on the power consumed.  The amount of power consumed is only affected by the cost of the energy consumed.  Bitcoin mining will always use the cheapest available energy - and that is not solar or wind.