Sustainable energy use for BTC mining up 59pc in one year

The global Bitcoin mining industry increased its sustainable energy mix by approximately 59 percent year over year (YoY), according to the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC)'s quarterly report released on Monday. The report also noted that Mining efficiency has increased 63 percent YoY.

The Bitcoin Mining Council is a voluntary global forum that claims to represent the global Bitcoin network. The group is also supported by Bitcoin proponent and MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor.

Michael said "In the first quarter of 2022, the hashrate and related security of the Bitcoin network improved by 23 percent year on year, while energy usage decrease by 25 percent."

According to the report, the mining industry uses 16bps of global energy and generates negligible carbon emissions of around 8bps. Data also reveals that BMC is estimating a 3X and 2X improvement in mining efficiency over the next four and following four years, respectively.

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The Bitcoin energy consumption on the world electrical grid is 247 TWh (0.16%) as compared to the worldwide total energy generation of 154,750 TWh.

The report concluded with the statement “Bitcoin mining is guaranteed to be dramatically more energy efficient in the next 8 years.”

Recently, there has been criticism around blockchain and the crypto industry for their extensive usage of electricity. In the month of January, Proof-of-Work mining and Bitcoin were the subject of intensive US government scrutiny for their energy consumption. Furthermore, US lawmakers are raising concerns over the impact of Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining on the environment.

While many Bitcoin enthusiasts acknowledge that the next generation of energy-efficient blockchain networks could pave the way for a sustainable blockchain revolution, many experts have been prompting companies in the crypto and blockchain industry to put in efforts to use carbon offsets and fund environmental projects.