⚡Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index - does Bitcoin boil the oceans?

[dektox]

I'm happy to announce the release of the
Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI)

by the Centre for Alternative Finance, Cambridge Judge Business School.

The index provides a real-time estimate of the total annual electricity usage of the Bitcoin network. The index has been developed in response to growing concerns over the sustainability and environmental impact of Bitcoin mining:

https://cbeci.org

The website features a Comparisons section to help visitors independently assess the relative magnitude of Bitcoin’s electricity usage. The Model is reviewed and transparently updated on an ongoing basis. The CBECI is a collaborative project that is open to feedback, suggestions, and constructive criticism. To help refine the analysis, we would be interested in getting your insights on the followings:

1) How much do you pay for electricity (USD / kWh)? From your experience within the industry, what do you think is the average price paid by miners?
2) Beyond marketing figures, what is the true efficiency of mining equipment (please see and leave comments on this spreadsheet)
3) How do you estimate the Power Usage Effectiveness of your data centre?
4) For data centres in your region, what electricity sources are being used and in what proportion?

Looking forward to your feedback!

[dektox]

[Jul 2020] Mining map launched
[Dec 2020] Updated the list of mining equipment.

[Lucius]

I was just wondering for what next disaster Bitcoin would be blamed, but it never occurred to me that we would cook all the fish and whales in the oceans According to some relevant research, the total electricity consumption for BTC mining is a maximum of about 0.2% of the total world consumption - so for anyone who has mastered elementary mathematics, such research really does not make sense.

Something else will boil the oceans, and it certainly won’t be a BTC that uses at least 50% of its energy from renewable sources. If people weren't wasting resources, life on planet earth might be a lot more enjoyable today - but who cares about standby power?

In Britain in 2004 standby modes on electronic devices accounted for 8% of all British residential power consumption. A similar study in France in 2000 found that standby power accounted for 7% of total residential consumption.

[ranochigo]

According to some relevant research, the total electricity consumption for BTC mining is a maximum of about 0.2% of the total world consumption - so for anyone who has mastered elementary mathematics, such research really does not make sense.

Given it's scale, it still does have some possible environmental impacts. I think it warrants some sort of research to alleviate the concerns.

Something else will boil the oceans, and it certainly won’t be a BTC that uses at least 50% of its energy from renewable sources. If people weren't wasting resources, life on planet earth might be a lot more enjoyable today - but who cares about standby power?

I don't see Bitcoin mining as something that could directly harm the environment but there could be other environmental impacts like ewaste and opportunity cost from using renewable energy.

The site is very insightful and nice to look at.I skimmed through their collection methodology and it's decent. There's really no need to be so cynical. Doesn't hurt to have something like this.

I also don't think they meant to boil the ocean literally, that would literally not make sense. It's just a way to phrase their research.

[Khaos77]

Bitcoin Energy Waste Problem Solved.
No Worries, when Bitcoin Miners draw too much power , the governments will just disconnect them from the power grid.  

https://cointelegraph.com/news/authorities-shut-off-electricity-to-bitcoin-miners-in-china-s-yunnan-province

Authorities shut off electricity to Bitcoin miners in China’s Yunnan province

Local media reports indicate electricity producers in Yunnan, China’s fourth-largest province by Bitcoin hash rate,
have been ordered not to provide power to crypto mines.

Of course it screws the bitcoin miners & bitcoin network, but hey if they cared about the environment ,
they would have switched to Proof of Stake like ethereum is going too.


 

[Hydrogen]

The overwhelming majority of bitcoin mining taps surplus electricity, without adding additional strain to existing power grids or power plants.

The most affordable supply of surplus electricity comes from hydroelectric dams and renewable power.

This means market forces align to create an environment where BTC mining naturally taps the most environmentally friendly and under utilized sources of electricity possible.

It addition to this, it is possible to guess how politicized BTC mining content is by measuring the degree to which they cite these basic fundamentals.

[Kakmakr]

Now it would be nice if they did a comparison with the total electricity used by the Fiat systems globally..... remember, Bitcoin is a payment network/currency and all the Fiat that are used is the same. So let them start at the manufacturing processes to mine Zinc/Copper etc for all the coins and then the electricity to manufacture "plastic" notes and/or processing cotton and paper. 

Then you add all the electricity and fossil fuel to transport that currency all over the world and also to store it safely in Banks or vaults with 24/7 CCTV security etc... etc.. and also aircon used in buildings and cash registers ....and we can go on and on.  

[BigBoy89]

Interesting data.
I checked the FAQ but couldn't find how you are making these calculations? IMO is not just XX TH that are consuming YY GW as different equipment produces different H/W, plus there is cooling, security, etc.

[Lucius]

Given it's scale, it still does have some possible environmental impacts. I think it warrants some sort of research to alleviate the concerns.

Of course, it has some impact, but it is so negligible with other factors that affect the climate and the environment. If we were to shut down all the mining farms at this point, would that mean anything in total for the climate? Of course not, but if we taught people not to leave electronic devices on standby how much energy would be saved and not wasted literally in vain?

The site is very insightful and nice to look at.I skimmed through their collection methodology and it's decent. There's really no need to be so cynical. Doesn't hurt to have something like this.

I wouldn’t say I’m cynical, I just don’t see the point in going in this direction at all when it comes to researching the impact that BTC has on climate and the environment. The footprint that BTC leaves in that segment is so small and insignificant at the moment that I think is not worth discussing at all.

[Broly46]

It will always be the first skeptic when a newbie talk about bitcoin, it’s burning down the earth! The higher the hash rate, the more power it consume, and miner waste the electric that could otherwise power a small city household for many years.

[Lorence.xD]

It will always be the first skeptic when a newbie talk about bitcoin, it’s burning down the earth! The higher the hash rate, the more power it consume, and miner waste the electric that could otherwise power a small city household for many years.

It is still smaller than what electricity the fiat currency generates though. The quote below lists the things that are involved when you are using fiat currency, there are some that isn't listed but it could go on. By the way, the power needed by bitcoin is only the size of 7 Dungeness nuclear power plant. Also, why are they concerned about the electricity consumption of bitcoin when there are other bigger carbon footprint contributors like coal power plants, chemical spills, denudation of forest, wildlife destruction and other environmentally exploitative activities. To answer the title, it will not burn the ocean, it will only distribute the current through its ever moving waves.

Now it would be nice if they did a comparison with the total electricity used by the Fiat systems globally..... remember, Bitcoin is a payment network/currency and all the Fiat that are used is the same. So let them start at the manufacturing processes to mine Zinc/Copper etc for all the coins and then the electricity to manufacture "plastic" notes and/or processing cotton and paper.  

Then you add all the electricity and fossil fuel to transport that currency all over the world and also to store it safely in Banks or vaults with 24/7 CCTV security etc... etc.. and also aircon used in buildings and cash registers ....and we can go on and on.  

[ranochigo]

Of course, it has some impact, but it is so negligible with other factors that affect the climate and the environment. If we were to shut down all the mining farms at this point, would that mean anything in total for the climate? Of course not, but if we taught people not to leave electronic devices on standby how much energy would be saved and not wasted literally in vain?

Not much, I daresay. Most electrical appliances are actually well designed to be consuming as little power as possible. Your study was from 2004. But, that's not the point.

I totally agree that Bitcoin won't be the significant factor in climate change. However, the rhetoric is that, mining is a frivolous and wasteful use of electricity. The research aims to find out how much electricity Bitcoin really consumes, I'll be happy to have something to show the skeptics and it would provide a way better visualization, and also a far more accurate estimation than most other sources.

I wouldn’t say I’m cynical, I just don’t see the point in going in this direction at all when it comes to researching the impact that BTC has on climate and the environment. The footprint that BTC leaves in that segment is so small and insignificant at the moment that I think is not worth discussing at all.

How exactly would any one be able to determine how much electricity Bitcoin uses? Such research aims to determine the energy consumption, just see their FAQ (https://cbeci.org/faq/). If anything, research proves that Bitcoin doesn't contribute too much to climate change. Objective research is necessary; no one would really have a decent gauge of the energy consumption if research like this doesn't exist. No one cares if people say Bitcoin doesn't contribute to climate change, they want concrete data, which is provided by the research in the thread.

I don't think research are necessarily pointless, if at all. No matter how useless people think they are, the data collected and/or the conclusion drawn can be used as a reference in other papers.

[manfredmann]

It just shows bitcoin has high electricity consumption but we could not deny the fact too that electricity consumption is just a little part of bitcoin transaction fee deducted from the miners im addition to all expenses operating a mining business for bitcoin. Well, the bitcoin marketcap is so huge and that electricity consumption is nothing compared to bitcoin market.