Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity than raw material extraction

With all positive reports to crypto currencies negative sides may not be concealed in the reporting. Especially when it comes to power consumption for Bitcoin prospecting, the consumption values are questionable. Experts demand more commitment to sustainability because mining “eats” more energy than gold or copper mining. The industry is working on new approaches.

Only aluminum production costs more than

The extraction costs for raw materials such as gold or platinum have risen significantly in recent years, which is basically the nature of the matter with naturally limited resources. Scientists have now compared the power consumption of crypto mining in relation to Bitcoin with the cost of extracting gold and other metals. The result shows why many mining farms are now looking for environmentally friendly options and are increasingly focusing on sustainably produced energy. Canada has also become an important location in the meantime.

The study, which was published in the journal “Nature”, posed the question of how much electricity is needed to realize a value of one US dollar. As a result, the costs are only higher for aluminium extraction than for Bitcoin prospecting, as the study showed. Copper, gold and platinum can be mined more cheaply.

Bitcoin system depends on very large amounts of energy

Current surveys predict electricity consumption of about 73 billion kilowatt hours for Bitcoin generation and about 20 billion kWh worldwide for the generation of ether tokens. This is roughly the volume of hard coal produced in Germany in 2017. Researchers at the University of Hawaii are currently even pointing out that the Bitcoin will even make a significant contribution to climate change if miners do not finally rely more on new technology concepts within the blockchain. In particular, the high computing power required to confirm transactions consumes large amounts of electricity worldwide.

Many developers are working on energy-saving concepts

The good thing about this is that there are a number of approaches that could soon lead to a significant reduction in energy requirements. The fact that blockchain companies are increasingly using electricity from renewable sources is a first important step along the way. Experts from the Bitkom industry association also point out that there is potential for reducing consumption within the blockchain databases. Switching to the proof-of-stake model could already significantly reduce power requirements. New hybrid concepts also make it possible to carry out more transactions than today in the same time.