Nearly 60% of the electricity used to power bitcoin (BTC) miners comes from sustainable sourcesaccording to the latest Q2 2022 report from the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC).
In its Q2 review of the Bitcoin network published on Tuesday, the BMC found that sustainable energy use by the global bitcoin mining industry has increased 6% from Q2 2021 and 2% from Q1 2022, reaching 59.5% in the latest quarteradding that it is “one of the most sustainable industries in the world.”
The council noted that the increase in miners’ sustainable energy mix has also coincided with an increase in mining efficiency.
Bitcoin mining hash rate in Q2 is up 137% YoY, while power usage is only up 63%, demonstrating a 46% increase in efficiency.
More details on the energy efficiency of bitcoin mining were shared on Tuesday at BMC’s YouTube briefing on their full report with MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor.. Compared to eight years ago, Saylor said miners’ energy efficiency has grown by 5,814%.
In Q2 2022, #bitcoin mining efficiency surged 46% YoY, and sustainable power mix reached 59.5%, above 50% for the 5th quarter in a row. The network was 137% more secure YoY, only using 63% more energy. It is hard to find an industry more clean & efficient.https://t.co/gqYn8qew9R
—Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) July 19, 2022
In the second quarter of 2022, bitcoin mining efficiency increased 46% year-on-year, and the sustainable energy mix reached 59.5%, up from 50% for the fifth consecutive quarter. The network was 137% more secure throughout the year, using only 63% more energy. It is difficult to find a cleaner and more efficient industry.https://t.co/gqYn8qew9R
Also, it has been found that bitcoin mining only accounts for 0.09% of the 34.8 billion metric tons (BMT) of carbon emissions estimated to occur globally and only consumes 0.15% of global energy supply.
Saylor noted at the briefing that bitcoin naysayers’ predictions about network power usage have been off the mark so far:
“People have been predicting that bitcoin was going to consume all the energy in the world for quite some time. That is not happening and will not happen because of the dynamics of efficiency.”
During the same briefing, the CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings manager Fred Thiel stated that mining efficiency is part of a “virtuous cycle” that will see the industry become “increasingly energy efficient”:
“Increased efficiency is 100% focused on energy consumption, because energy is our main input cost. As energy prices go up, it forces us to be more efficient.”
The report highlights how the rise in the price of bitcoin has boosted the energy efficiency of the network, as evidenced by the sharp increase in efficiency over the last eight years.
As the price increases, the demand for ASIC mining devices increases, driving device innovation. More efficient devices are cheaper and more profitable, forcing less profitable ones out of the market, making the entire industry more efficient.
The data in the report comes from BMC members, who account for 50.5% of the world’s bitcoin hashing power..
Lawmakers in the United States have been especially interested in the state of energy consumption of bitcoin mining in the country.
Last week, six US lawmakersincluding Senator Elizabeth Warren, sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), asking agencies to require mining companies to report their emissions and energy use.
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