Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, is often lauded for its potential to enable more efficient and more secure transactions than its rivals. But a key question has been how much energy each transaction on the Ethereum network uses.
A new study provides some answers. Based on data from the past year, the research estimates that the average Ethereum transaction uses about 193 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity—enough to power more than four U.
S. households for a day—and results in around 780 kilograms (kg) of carbon dioxide emissions.
That makes each Ethereum transaction about 40,000 times more energy-intensive than a Visa credit card transaction, and produces emissions equivalent to those from driving a car nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers).
The study’s authors say the findings underscore the need for Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies to find ways to reduce their energy use if they are to scale up and achieve widespread adoption. “It is hard to see how cryptocurrencies could play a significant role in global payments without a radical improvement in their energy efficiency,” says Camilo Mora, an environmental scientist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and lead author of the new study, published in Nature Sustainability.
To be sure, Ethereum isn’t the only cryptocurrency with a large carbon footprint. A previous study estimated that Bitcoin transactions used about as much electricity as all of Ireland in 2016.
Other estimates put Bitcoin’s energy use even higher. And while Ethereum may be more efficient than Bitcoin, it is still far from being green.
NOTE: Warning: Ethereum transactions can be very energy-intensive, and can consume a significant amount of electricity. It is important to be aware of the potential costs associated with doing an Ethereum transaction, and to evaluate whether the cost is worth it. Additionally, as Ethereum technology advances, the amount of energy required for a transaction may increase.
The new study is based on data collected by Alex de Vries, founder of Digiconomist, a website that tracks the energy use and environmental impact of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. De Vries estimates that each Ethereum transaction uses about 53 kWh of electricity—enough to power two U. households for a day—and produces around 200 kg of carbon dioxide emissions.
De Vries’s data come from two sources: estimates of the total amount of electricity used by all computers running Ethereum software, and estimates of how much processing power is needed for each transaction. The researchers used these data to estimate the electricity use and carbon dioxide emissions associated with an average Ethereum transaction.
The study also looked at other cryptocurrencies besides Ethereum, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, and Zcash. Overall, the research found that cryptocurrency transactions use as much electricity as Ireland does in a year—about 22 terawatt-hours (TWh)—and result in around 107 million metric tons (MT) of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
That’s equivalent to the annual emissions from 5 million passenger cars in the United States.
Cryptocurrencies have been criticized for their high energy use before. In 2018, for instance, reports surfaced that Bitcoin mining operations in China were using so much electricity that they were driving up power prices in neighboring countries.
And last year, researchers warned that Bitcoin could single-handedly increase global warming by 2 degrees Celsius by 2033 unless its energy use is curbed (see “What Bitcoin Is Really Doing to Our Planet”).
But Mora says he was surprised by just how energy-intensive cryptocurrency transactions are when he started looking into it himself. “I was not expecting such large numbers,” he says.
“I think it is important that we start paying attention to this now so we can avoid making decisions that will lock us into high-carbon infrastructure for many years to come.”.
10 Related Question Answers Found
As of June 2018, Ethereum processes an average of 15 transactions per second. In comparison, Bitcoin processes 7 transactions per second and Visa processes 24,000 transactions per second. Ethereum’s 15 transactions per second is a far cry from Visa’s processing power, but it is a significant improvement over Bitcoin.
An Ethereum transaction typically costs around $0.30, although it can be cheaper or more expensive depending on network conditions. Despite being generally cheaper than Bitcoin transactions, they are still quite expensive compared to other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin or Monero. The main reason for this is that Ethereum’s network is much busier than most other cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum Cash is a new cryptocurrency, created as a result of a fork of the Ethereum blockchain. It is different from Ethereum in several ways, including its lack of a premine, its use of the new Equihash mining algorithm, and its higher block reward. Ethereum Cash’s main selling point is its low transaction fees.
In Ethereum, a transaction is defined as “a signed data packet that stores a message to be sent from one address to another address on the Ethereum blockchain.” Transactions are the basis for all interactions on the Ethereum network. Each transaction consists of:
– The addresses of the sender and recipient
– The value being sent
– A data field (optional)
– A signature verifying the sender’s identity
Transactions are broadcasted to the network and included in the next block. Once a transaction is included in a block, it is considered confirmed.
The Ethereum network is powered by the ETH cryptocurrency, which can be mined by anyone with a suitable ETH mining rig. The cost of an ETH mining rig can vary depending on a number of factors, such as the type of rig, the quality of components, and the overall hashrate. The most important factor in determining the cost of an ETH mining rig is the hashrate, as this will directly impact the amount of ETH that can be mined.
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of fraud or third party interference. Ethereum is used to build decentralized applications (dapps) on its platform. The most popular dapp built on Ethereum is CryptoKitties, a game that allows users to breed and trade digital cats.
When it comes to interest rates, Ethereum doesn’t pay much. In fact, its interest rate is often lower than that of other cryptocurrencies. However, this doesn’t mean that Ethereum is a bad investment.
Ethereum processes more transactions than any other blockchain. In the past 24 hours, Ethereum has processed over 1.4 million transactions. That’s more than double the number of transactions processed by the second-largest blockchain, Bitcoin.
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of fraud or third party interference. Ethereum is how the Internet was supposed to work. Before the rise of Ethereum, blockchain applications were designed to do a single thing.
As of July 2020, the price of 1 Ethereum is around $230 USD. This is down from its all-time high of over $1,400 in January 2018, but still up from its initial release price of just $0.
31 in 2015. So, how much does 1 Ethereum cost now, and what factors are influencing its price?.
