Bitcoin mining is estimated to account for 0.9% of global carbon emissions by 2030

A new study by the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) has predicted that Bitcoin’s energy consumption will remain below 0.5% of total global consumption over the next decade.

NYDIG released the Bitcoin Net Zero research paper this month, noting that Bitcoin’s energy consumption and carbon footprint will not skyrocket in the years to come, even if the price goes up.

The study, led by Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter and NYDIG founder Ross Stevens, discusses how the network’s carbon footprint could change in the future based on variability: Bitcoin price dynamics, mining difficulties and energy consumption.

The study’s most positive outlook was that Bitcoin emissions will still be a small fraction of the global total, even if BTC prices skyrocket in 2030.

“Even in our strong peak price scenario, where Bitcoin will hit $ 10 trillion by 2030, its emissions are only 0.9% of total global emissions and energy. Its consumption is only 0.4% of the global total. “

The report predicts the future growth of bitcoin mining activity based on data from 2020. The researchers calculated the historical power consumption of bitcoin miners as a function of hash rate, network and machine performance.

In 2020, the authors found that Bitcoin consumed 62 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity and produced 33 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which is only 0.04% of global energy use and 0.1% of global energy use.

The authors claim that the carbon waste associated with Bitcoin mining in 2020 will be “globally negligible”.

Related: Bitcoin’s power consumption this year exceeds all of 2020

BTC mining currently consumes 101 TWh per year or 0.45% of the world’s electricity. According to the University of Cambridge, the Bitcoin network uses more energy than all of the Philippines.

However, the university also found that Bitcoin uses less electricity than all refrigerators in the US combined and only 4.6% of total energy is used for air conditioning in residential buildings worldwide. .

The report also concludes that the prospect of future “decarbonized” Bitcoin mining is very promising, noting:

“In the long term, the carbon footprint of Bitcoin (and thus also the absolute carbon footprint of Bitcoin) will decrease as the growth of renewable energies continues and countries try to decarbonise their power grids in the future.”