Bitcoin uses a lot of energy and is growing fast

– Bitcoin is not energy-friendly and is growing very fast.
– That’s not good and may encourage those in the cryptocurrency field to push renewable energy so that crypto is feasible.

Here is a note from Emily Olson of ReGenFriends summarizing this article:

– Bitcoin now uses 80% more energy than it did at the beginning of 2020.
– Bitcoin uses 128 terawatt-hours annually, according to estimates from Cambridge.
-The cryptocurrency is responsible for 0.59% of total worldwide energy consumption.

The cryptocurrency’s estimated annualized electricity consumption at the beginning of 2020 was 71.07 terawatt-hours. On March 11 of this year, that figure hit 128 terawatt-hours. For reference, in all of 2019, Australia’s main electric grid used only 192 terawatt-hours. And the entire country of Argentina uses just 125 terawatt-hours annually.

If you were to rank every country in terms of their total energy consumption including bitcoin, the digital asset would be the 29th largest consumer of power on the planet.

This article notes that bitcoin mining can be a ‘bridge’ to a renewable energy future by supporting green projects. And Elon Musk said that Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin until it transitions to a cleaner energy process.