Alex Dovbnya According to researcher Carl Beekhuizen, Ethereum will consume 99.95 less energy after switching to proof of stake (PoS)
As blockchain carbon emissions become a pressing issue in the wake of the Tesla broadcast, Ethereum Foundation researcher Carl Beckhuizen has published a new blog post . In it, he estimates that Ethereum will be able to reduce energy consumption by 99,95% after switching to proof of stake (PoS).
Beekhuizen claims to have approximately 87,897 validators, excluding exchanges and betting services.
After doing the math, he determined they cumulatively need approximately 1.64 megawatts of power. Even if it reached 2.64 megawatts, that would be equivalent to the energy consumption of a small village instead of an entire state.
Ethereum miners currently consume approximately 9.9 terawatt hours per year (TWh/year). Beekhuizen has come up with an infographic to illustrate how drastically Ethereum's energy consumption will be reduced.
The researcher claims that these are only "rough estimates" as no statistics are currently available. But he expects the new Ethereum iteration to be roughly 200 times more energy efficient than the proof f stake (PoS) iteration.
While the dramatic energy savings are compelling, opponents of proof-of-stake (PoS) believe it is less secure due to a larger number of attack vectors.
Bitcoin consumes less energy than the banking industry
According to a recent Galaxy Digital report , Bitcoin consumes 113.89 TWh/year, which means it requires more energy than countries like Argentina.
However, Bitcoin is a much smaller energy hog than the old banking system with 238.92 TWh/yr. What's more, miners now rely heavily on renewable energy.
The current global energy supply is 166 071 TWh/year.