Power Usage for Bitcoin

[Cellarius]

I really think that there is a future for Bitcoin except that I fear it may crash because of the ever increasing need for power to keep the blockchain going. Is my fear justified?

I am an 81 year old guy who is trying to understand this thing.

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[dothebeats]

I really think that there is a future for Bitcoin except that I fear it may crash because of the ever increasing need for power to keep the blockchain going. Is my fear justified?

I am an 81 year old guy who is trying to understand this thing.

Power usage might somehow be an issue in the forthcoming years due to the ever increasing need for it as difficulty is being raised over time. Along the way, we might consider switching over to other different algorithms that could possibly help us along the way (such as Proof of Stake or whatnot) and to also help fight off centralization which is happening with giant mining farms mostly located in China.

[pixie85]

Power usage is smaller than you might think. There's an interesting article from last year that you should take a look at. https://www.thebalance.com/how-much-power-does-the-bitcoin-network-use-391280 At this rate, the bitcoin network runs at 342934450 watts, which equates to around 343 megawatts.
A typical power plant produces over 3000 megawatts, so even if the whole network grew 10 times, a single power plant could keep it going.

[Kprawn]

The power needed to run Bitcoin, does not compare to the total amount needed to run the Fiat banking system. You have to think of all the

appliances in and around a bank that are necessary to run it, for example : Air conditioning / ATM's / computers / CCTV systems / Vaults and

all the lights in these buildings... and we have not even started on the amount of electricity that are needed to manufacture coins and to print

money. 

[European Central Bank]

bitcoin mining is dictated by the availability of cheap power these days. alot of mining takes place next to hydro plants with spare capacity. geothermal power in places in like iceland is also crazy cheap. someday solar will be cheap and widespread too. i have no concerns.

[bitbunnny]

There is no reason to be afraid, power usage is not that significant to have some stronger negative impact so Bitcoin could keep going on.
And I have to say that is very nice to see that we have mature and experienced users who have recognized cryptocurrencies. Who says that Bitcoin is for young people only?  

[pearlmen]

I really think that there is a future for Bitcoin except that I fear it may crash because of the ever increasing need for power to keep the blockchain going. Is my fear justified?

I am an 81 year old guy who is trying to understand this thing.

Your fear is justified as a 81 year old guy but for me I see possibilities because in the last 50 years things that seems impossible have become possible through ingenuity of science and technology and that development keeps evolving so I see new method of generating power springing up on a daily basis that challenge of power becomes surmountable.

[skorupi17]

I really think that there is a future for Bitcoin except that I fear it may crash because of the ever increasing need for power to keep the blockchain going. Is my fear justified?

I am an 81 year old guy who is trying to understand this thing.

I wouldn't worry about power consumption here since Bitcoin is not the only network who needs electricity in order to sustain it. Though some country experiences power interruption/loss due to power shortage but they eventually cope with it. Many utilizes different sources of electricity nowadays so this will be coped anytime soon.

I can agree that power usage for bitcoin network will be higher, but that's because there will be more transaction. Furthermore, the power usage will be more efficient since technology will keep improving over time
So i think there's nothing to be feared.

I have to agree with this. Improvement in technology will surely solve this problem (if it is). New source of electricity may emerge or development of devices  that lessen the usage of power. So nothing be be feared, as of now. 

[Qunenin]

I really think that there is a future for Bitcoin except that I fear it may crash because of the ever increasing need for power to keep the blockchain going. Is my fear justified?

I am an 81 year old guy who is trying to understand this thing.

Thanks for your concern but power is not a big issue in the bitcoins. Even if Bitcoin is used at its peak i will still say that mining will continue to be as it is now. The places where mining are done extensively, the power is already very cheap there and therefore this factor will have no impact on bitcoin price.

[coolcoinz]

No need to worry. The network is spread around the world, so the typical usage increase per country for mining is not going to exceed 0.1% 
Imagine that a typical facebook or google server room requires more power than a big Bitcoin mine, and nobody goes around saying that google is wasting our power and should shut down.

[Cellarius]

Thanks for all the great comments. My belief that blockchain technology will save humanity is reinforced.

[TheWallStreetCrew]

POS sues a fraction of the electricity as bitcoin which is one of the reasons it is so popular. That said as long as there is profit in bitcoin the cost of electricity does not matter.

[Iranus]

Thanks for all the great comments. My belief that blockchain technology will save humanity is reinforced.

Note:  the amount of power dedicated to the network is not about how much is needed or how many transactions are sent, it's about how much profit miners can get from the block reward and from transaction fees.  Therefore the power used could actually go down in the long term.

[Meuh6879]

I really think that there is a future for Bitcoin except that I fear it may crash because of the ever increasing need for power to keep the blockchain going. Is my fear justified?

others ALTS need more power and more STORAGE to evolve with dramatic usage (like Bitcoin now).
so Bitcoin is the more experimented of all others crypto-currency.

you can store a full node without problem.
now.
with 350 000 transactions per day.

developpers are Chief ... after all.
chief evolve with the demand.

[darkangel11]

Thanks for all the great comments. My belief that blockchain technology will save humanity is reinforced.

Note:  the amount of power dedicated to the network is not about how much is needed or how many transactions are sent, it's about how much profit miners can get from the block reward and from transaction fees.  Therefore the power used could actually go down in the long term.

How come? The time to resolve a block stays the same, no matter how big the fee is. If you pay $10 it will get resolved faster, but not because it's somehow shorter, its size remains the same! It's only your place in the queue that changes.

The technology also moves forward and we don't need the same electrical power to get x times the hash. The hash power and electricity don't rise in proportion. An example of how the hash power increased 6 times, but the power consumption not even 2 times is a comparison between two antminers:
Antminer S1 180 Gh/s = 360W 
AntMiner S5 - 1155Gh/s =600W

[Hydrogen]

Many electricity utilities in the united states have stopped paying home owners $$ for installing solar panels on their homes which generate more power than they consume, leaving the electrical grid with a surplus of electricity.

As far as the united states goes, there already is too large a surplus of electricity on the grid. There are too many power plants generating power.

Electrical consumption isn't likely to be an issue for a long time. There's zero reason to be concerned with electrical use with so many switching to off grid/grid tied solar or wind power solutions.

[7788bitcoin]

Many mining data centers in China are actually using cheap hydroelectric power. Also, many people working on renewable energy for bitcoin mining so we shouldn't afraid of the future. I guess the amount of energy is high but still too tiny to contribute to the global warming and CO2 footprint.

[MissGrey]

I understand your concern about the waste of energy power, I guess that in future these problems will be solved, maybe implementing new technologies. Respect to the price, you wouldn't worry because with the shortage of Bitcoin its price will up

[farharhadi]

Many miners occur next to hydroelectric power plants with reserves, and many are power generators for other reserves. Even later diesel will be cheap and will expand worldwide.

Would that be a problem to all of you ?

[Amevalentine]

As long as there is a target market and customers who still need bitcoin,
it will still be a fixed business land.

[d5000]

@OP: Your assumption is incorrect - there is no minimum power needed to "keep going" the blockchain. What's important is the cost of the power - the more it costs, the more difficult it is to attack the network.

Power usage is smaller than you might think. There's an interesting article from last year that you should take a look at. https://www.thebalance.com/how-much-power-does-the-bitcoin-network-use-391280 At this rate, the bitcoin network runs at 342934450 watts, which equates to around 343 megawatts.

The estimation is not bad, but probably a bit outdated (the article is from October 2016). I want to link here the study I consider the best one about this topic:

Electricity consumption of Bitcoin: a market-based and technical analysis.

His estimation is about 500 MW:

Code:

Lower bound    Best guess 	Upper bound
325 MW 	       470-540 MW 	774 MW

The study is from March 2017, so it is well possible consumption being a little bit higher now, but not much.

Here the author has opened a topic in the Development & Technical Discussion forum.

[Reid]

I really think that there is a future for Bitcoin except that I fear it may crash because of the ever increasing need for power to keep the blockchain going. Is my fear justified?

I am an 81 year old guy who is trying to understand this thing.

Simple for me. If you dont fear the crash then you will not be a good investor or even a trader.
There should always be a doubt with something specially to a new invesment.
That is telling yourself you are wise but you just dont feel it.
Regarding the power usage I think I have read something about natural energy which will provide for the high power needed.

[n0ne]

Power and internet access is a major requirement for bitcoin and other digital currency to continue service for a longer time. Different countries have different electricity consumption charge as well varying amount of power generation. So Countries have got several alternate plans to increase power generation and make system effective by working on minimal power consumption.

[RealSohan]

If this continues process of bitcoins will remain then in future it power will increase rapidly worldwide.

[~Bitcoin~]

I really think that there is a future for Bitcoin except that I fear it may crash because of the ever increasing need for power to keep the blockchain going. Is my fear justified?

I am an 81 year old guy who is trying to understand this thing.

May be it will be issue later on and with increasing mining difficulty many miners with expensive electricity have to leave bitcoin mining so the only one with very cheap or free electricity can continue mining. Although Bitcoin may not loss its charms just because of high power usage.

[stompix]

I can agree that power usage for bitcoin network will be higher, but that's because there will be more transaction. Furthermore, the power usage will be more efficient since technology will keep improving over time
So i think there's nothing to be feared.

Nothing to do with the number of transactions.
Power consumption will always depend on the daily miners revenue (reard plus fee) / price of kw.

The blockage miners will never consume more power than they could buy with the mining revenue.

Many miners occur next to hydroelectric power plants with reserves, and many are power generators for other reserves. Even later diesel will be cheap and will expand worldwide.

Would that be a problem to all of you ?

Oh , you just solved one of the world problem.
If miners use electricity produced by the dams, don't you thing that they are using somebody else share?
If we all could use hydro power and pay .1 cents for one kw a lot of this world problems would be already solved.

The power needed to run Bitcoin, does not compare to the total amount needed to run the Fiat banking system. You have to think of all the

appliances in and around a bank that are necessary to run it, for example : Air conditioning / ATM's / computers / CCTV systems / Vaults and

all the lights in these buildings... and we have not even started on the amount of electricity that are needed to manufacture coins and to print

money. 

I'm pretty sure that localbitcoins, xapo, blockchain.info are not using even one watt of electricity.
Or the 3000 bitcoin atms.
Or the computers that are powered up when you make a payment.

[szpalata]

Every now and then the equipment manufacturers are coming out with better models of their equipment for high efficiency low power consumption so in fully aware of your plight.

[beerlover]

I really think that there is a future for Bitcoin except that I fear it may crash because of the ever increasing need for power to keep the blockchain going. Is my fear justified?

I am an 81 year old guy who is trying to understand this thing.

Simple for me. If you dont fear the crash then you will not be a good investor or even a trader.
There should always be a doubt with something specially to a new invesment.
That is telling yourself you are wise but you just dont feel it.
Regarding the power usage I think I have read something about natural energy which will provide for the high power needed.

I think if you fear of the things to be crashed then to be very honest you are not someone to be said as investor. Or you are not fit for investment. Those people who are afraid of crash they can’t be good traders. If we look around the world we will find the successful businessmen are those who are risk takers.

[mikehowardelness]

I believe that the electricity consumption will stagnate due to the efficiency in the equipment. The consumption of bitcoin is criticized because there are many interests in altcoins proof of stake.