Ethereum’s blockchain power upgrade, the proof of stake (POS) system, has resulted in a 99% reduction in power usage. According to a report published in the scientific journal Patterns. According to the report, the amount of energy saved is equivalent to that used by mid-sized countries such as Ireland or Austria.
It was also hailed as a watershed moment in making the cryptocurrency sector greener after the proof of work (POW) system was used for several years and was thought to use more energy than countries like Finland, harming the environment. It is estimated that the amount of energy saved by driving electric vehicles is equal to the amount of energy consumed by cryptocurrency mining.
According to Alex De Vries’ paper published in the journal Patterns, overall power savings and climate gains are likely to be reduced if the electricity-hungry computers that previously helped to operate the network are repurposed to mine other energy-intensive tokens. He adds that determining the exact power consumption of digital currencies is difficult because not all miners are efficient.
According to De Vries, Ethereum’s transition to a network with lower energy requirements provides a roadmap for other cryptocurrencies to decarbonize, even if the resulting climate gains fall short of some expectations.
The sources for this piece include an article in BBC.