A new study suggests that Bitcoin has already consumed more power this year than it will in all of 2020.
By the end of the year, the Bitcoin network will have consumed 91 TW/h (terawatt-hours or one trillion watts per hour) and has already used more than the estimated 67 TW/h for all of 2020, according to data from September. 13 Bloomberg report .
Exact energy consumption figures are volatile and not easy to calculate accurately, but the trend is clear - they are increasing. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index currently estimates that BTC will consume even more 95.68 TW/h by the end of the year. That's about the same as energy consumption in the Philippines.
A separate study by Science Direct highlighted another problem - e-waste. E-waste generally refers to used computer equipment and electronics. The report suggests that one transaction on the Bitcoin network produces 272 grams of e-waste, mostly consisting of old mining equipment.
It added that Bitcoin miners are "going through an increasing amount of short-lived equipment that may exacerbate the growth of global e-waste," adding that annual e-waste production was 30.7 metric kilotons in May 2021.
