Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are all the rage and have many exciting applications. But they also have a significant impact on the environment, mainly related to energy use. In particular, cryptocurrencies using the proof of work, competition and wider network activities between miners and wider network activities will consume a lot of energy. Miners must use a large amount of energy because they have to compete with each other to become the first person to solve the equation, so as to get rewards. This article will explore why the blockchain consumes so much energy.

What is blockchain?

Blockchain is a method of maintaining and updating databases, usually across computer networks. The new data adds a "block" at a time, and each block quotes the previous block. Each new block is added to the existing blockchain, so it is named "Blockchain".

Blockchain technology is particularly suitable for cryptocurrencies. Once the data becomes part of the blockchain, it cannot be deleted or changed. In addition, many blockchain runs in a decentralized manner, and the data is stored and updated at the same time in the network. This makes it almost impossible to be tampered with, because the differences between different versions will be quickly identified.

Consensus

In order to ensure that each new data block added to the chain is legal, a consensus mechanism is used to allow everyone on the network to check the legitimacy of each block. The most famous and widely used consensus reaching mechanism is called the proof of work (POW): the right to add blocks by completing a certain amount of computing work.

People engaged in this work are called miners, because adding a new block to the blockchain to generate some new cryptocurrencies, and they can retain these cryptocurrencies as rewards. In addition, miners can also add transaction payment processing fees for them to the block in the chain. These rewards are very important because they will motivate the work required to maintain the operation of the blockchain.

Work

The "work" in the proof of work system usually includes solving a digital problem: a problem that is easy to check but difficult to solve. The only way to come up with the solution is to guess again and again. Once someone finds a solution, they will broadcast new blocks to the rest of the network. Other participants can easily check whether the solution is indeed correct. Then everyone adds the block to their local chain copy, and then starts the puzzle game again for the next block.

It is necessary to invest in computing power in advance, so energy is required, which reduces the attractiveness of the attempt to play with the system, and no matter who completes the proof of work, the luck involved makes it almost impossible to add fraud data to the block.

Develop network

The more computers that are trying to solve the problem, the more difficult the system will be tampered with. If you want to introduce a wrong block in the chain, you must find an effective solution faster than others and control most of the mining capabilities, because others in the network will check your solution. Even so, you are unlikely to let the fraud chain run for a long time. The larger the network, the more difficult it is to crack, the better the system's security.

Shocking energy consumption level

An example of a well -known technical force is the blockchain. Blockchain uses dense password calculations to verify the existence and effectiveness of transactions. First, as the basis of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, it has attracted people's attention. But now all walks of life regard it as a solution to identifying identity verification, identity and trust challenges.

However, there is a big problem: its energy consumption is equivalent to the great fuel consumption of the grandmother's 1973 Ford LTD.

What makes the blockchain act is the consensus of all computers on the network, that is, each transaction on the blockchain is real. Competitions that reached consensus by solving password problems between computers are called mining. Mining uses a powerful computer chip and software, plus a reliable Internet connection and air conditioning, so that the CPU is kept cool in 7 days and 24 hours. All of this consumes a lot of electricity.

How much energy does the blockchain use?

So many, if the miners are a country, their energy consumption will be ranked 41st, almost as much as Austria.

So much so much that the carbon produced by mining is as many as Las Vegas or Hamburg.

The energy consumed by a single Bitcoin transaction is equivalent to the energy consumed by 100,000 VISA transactions.

So many so much that cryptocurrency miners are establishing server farms in a cheap place, such as Iceland (geothermal energy), rural China (hydropower plants are not fully utilized), and American towns. burden.

In fact, a small town in northern New York has attracted so many mining activities, so that it has shortly suspended new mining operations to prevent them from truly exhausted the town's power supply.

Some people think that the estimation of the power consumption of the blockchain has been exaggerated, but even if it is true, it still does not achieve energy saving. In fact, it proposes an embarrassing problem: the technology that to improve the efficiency of transaction is a great waste in itself.

Why does Bitcoin consume so much energy?

In concept, Bitcoin does not seem to need a lot of electricity. All you have to do is point to and click or click your smartphone to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. For decades, we already have the same technology to do the same thing about other types of digital transactions.

But it is the decentralized structure of Bitcoin that has promoted its huge carbon emissions footprint.

To verify the transaction, Bitcoin needs a computer to solve the increasingly complicated mathematical problems. This work consensus mechanism proves that more energy is consumed than many people realize.

Paulbroyi, the person in charge of the global blockchain, said: "As far as Bitcoin is concerned, this is done by allowing many different competitors to match. question."

Miners who have completed mathematical programs as soon as possible have not only proved the transaction, but also received small rewards in the form of Bitcoin payment.

In the early days of Bitcoin, this process did not consume the power of national countries. However, as more and more people compete for mathematical problems, the inherent characteristics of cryptocurrency technology are becoming more and more difficult to mathematically problem -and this dynamics will only try to buy Bitcoin as more and more people try to buy Bitcoin coins. And accelerate.

Multiple miners are using electricity to compete for rewards. Even though there may be hundreds of thousands of computers compete for the same problem, only one can get Bitcoin remuneration in the end.

"Of course, in a sense, this is a waste, because 99.99%of the working machines have discarded the result because they did not win the game," Brcrudi said. Although this process has a fair and safe result, it also generates a lot of carbon emissions. "I very much doubt that [WHOEVER FOUNDED] Bitcoin is expected to achieve such a huge success in the future. Therefore, we are talking about huge power," Brcati said.

This process also requires a lot of time: each Bitcoin transaction takes more than 10 minutes. That is the time required for mining new blocks.

Other digital transactions, such as supporting transactions that VISA provided, faster and less energy consumption. For example, compared with Bitcoin's 4TPS, VISA can handle about 1,700 transactions (TPS) per second.

According to the report of Cambridge Digital Asset Plan (CDAP) in May 2022, in terms of cryptocurrency mining, the United States occupies the largest share in the global Bitcoin mining market, with nearly 38%of the global hash rate recovery -this means A large number of blockchain calculations.

Other Bitcoin mining centers include Kazakhstan, which accounts for 13%of the global share, more than 6%of Canada and nearly 5%of Russia, and the rest are scattered around the world.

Blockchain and energy use are big problems

None of these can explain why the blockchain is a large energy consumer. This happened because the operating conditions of the blockchain are that no matter how many miners in the system, the block can only be added to the chain within the consistent time interval. About every 10 minutes on the Bitcoin blockchain, about every 15 seconds on the Ethereum blockchain. The reason is complicated, but the results are simple: As more and more mining capabilities join the Internet, the POW problem must be more difficult. In this way, it takes the same time to solve them; it only needs more energy.

Endless growth and transfer burden

In other words: Computers joining the mining will not change the function of the blockchain, but will only increase its energy consumption. Law of revenue plays an important role here. Once the blockchain network reaches a critical number of nodes, security has met basic requirements. But mining is favorable, and more and more people have cryptocurrencies. Therefore, Bitcoin blockchain alone currently consumes 204.5 TWH each year, which is comparable to Thailand's power consumption. The problem is the energy itself, not the source of energy. Many miners are turning to renewable energy. But this will only transfer the problem elsewhere. We have not enough renewable energy production to meet all our activities. Therefore, if the mining can be used up and renewable energy, it will only increase the non -renewable energy for other activities.

Ethereum decreases by 99% of energy use

Ethereum is the world's second largest cryptocurrency agreement calculated based on market value. It successfully transitioned to a new consensus mechanism called proof of stake through the night on September 15, 2022, almost eliminating energy consumption.

Although the long -awaited changes have not led to the sudden rise in the price of Ethereum (the native crypto assets of the agreement), industry experts expect this change to gradually alleviate people's concerns about the environment and energy needs of blockchain technology.

Because the energy intensity of cryptocurrency agreements such as Bitcoin and Ethereum has become a hot issue in Washington Special Economic Zone, the so -called "merger" was implemented on September 8. The White House issued a detailed introduction of Joe Biden based on the administrative order signed by the US Presidential President. The impact of encrypted mining operations on energy.

According to the report, Bitcoin miners use an energy -intensive consensus mechanism called proof of work, which is estimated to account for 0.9% to 1.4% of the total power consumption of the United States in 2021. When the workload of Ethereum mining, the estimation value rose to 0.9%to 1.7%.

The end

Only when you add a new block to the chain, the value of the reward you spend than you spend on mining is more valuable. However, mining can cause a lot of energy consumption, and the problem of energy use has been attracted by many countries and experts. In the near future, there should be several alternatives to replace the workload proof system.

The above content introduces why the blockchain consumes so much energy. Most of the cryptocurrencies use the proof of work mechanism to verify the transaction, and the mining behavior is the reason for consumption of a lot of energy. The merger of Ethereum reduces the use of energy. In the future, more solutions to replace the proof of work system should be launched.