One of the biggest problems with Bitcoin is its excessive energy consumption, rumored to be as high as 250 to 900 kwhrs per transaction.
The amount of energy per transaction also increases as more bitcoin is mined, reaching infinity at the point where all the bitcoin has been mined.
Clearly the planet can not afford to have an economy powered entirely by bitcoin in its current form. The discussion on this point is a bit muddled on both sides of the debate.
In a recent Harvard Business Review article, there is a projection that energy consumption per transaction for bitcoin will likely continue to grow, while others try to minimize the potential impact. Everything considered, there is not much detail provided about the actual projected growth in energy consumption.
However, a more revealing analysis shows that bitcoin mining is required to validate transactions in a proof of work system, therefore, it is a fundamental error to say that transactions can operate separately from mining once the coins are mined. Further observation of both these articles points out this conflicting view of of the bitcoin ecosystem.
There has been some discussion of converting bitcoin from a proof of work system to a proof of stake system which would save lots of energy. Currently, the top green cryptocurrencies are Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Stellar (XLM), Ripple (XRP). They take the lead as green cryptocurrencies. So far, it seems that Ethereum is the only major cryptocurrency currently having such a dramatic change in process.
For a more in-depth, deep dive into energy efficient alternative cryptocurrencies, refer to this link.
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John Thielking,
Contributing Writer
