Discover the impact of Ethereum's Energy consumption on the environment and how the move to PoS has reduced it by over 99%. Learn more now.
Ethereum's Lifetime Energy Use Before the Merge Equaled Switzerland's for a Year
A recent study by the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has found that Ethereum's Energy Consumption from its inception in 2015 until the implementation of the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism late last year is equivalent to the amount of energy consumed by Switzerland in a year. To put that into perspective, Switzerland consumes approximately 54.88 TWh of electricity per year. This puts Ethereum's consumption at 58.26 TWh, which is equivalent to Switzerland's annual consumption.
However, the move to PoS has significantly reduced Ethereum's energy consumption by over 99%. CCAF provided an interesting comparison of the energy consumption by representing Bitcoin's energy use as a skyscraper, while Ethereum's energy use post-Merge is equivalent to the size of a raspberry. To illustrate this impact, if Bitcoin's energy use is represented by Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka building, which stands at 678.9 meters (2230 feet), Ethereum's previous PoW mining consensus system would stand at the comparable height of the London Eye, a 135 meter-high observation wheel.
The shift to PoS has not only reduced Ethereum's energy consumption but has also made the platform more environmentally friendly. Artists exploring the trend of the non-fungible token (NFT)-based collectables have expressed concern over the energy required to mint works on Ethereum. As a not-for-profit institute, CCAF aims to provide public value by contextualizing energy use through pictures to make these magnitudes very clear to the general public.
While Ethereum's energy consumption is now orders of magnitude smaller than Bitcoin's, CCAF does not take a view on which algorithm is better or worse. Alexander Neumüller, CCAF research lead for digital assets and energy consumption, stated that PoS is not a perfect substitute for PoW and that a lot of additional factors come into play. He added that PoW is more secure since it is harder to attack the network, while PoS is more financially based. In his opinion, a combination of both algorithms could provide the best solution.
CCAF estimates that Ethereum will consume 6.56 GWh of electricity annually, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of the Eiffel Tower. This estimate of Ethereum's historical energy footprint can be useful for projects that may want to start offsetting their carbon emissions, which is a post-Merge project underway at ConsenSys. This offsetting process is being addressed by a group of Web3 firms now called the Ethereum Climate Platform.
