- Ethereum 2.0 will save a huge amount of energy.
- The network’s energy consumption will drop by 99.95%.
- The energy saved will be equal to the same amount generated by 11,000 wind turbines.
The Ethereum merge will have Ethereum drop by 99.95% in energy consumption. To put it into perspective, this is equal to 15 big nuclear reactors or 11,000 wind turbines. Indeed, the Ethereum merge is a huge win for the environment.
In detail, the Ethereum merge will reduce consuming 110 TWh or 110 billion killo-watt hours of energy annually. This is pretty much the same energy consumed by more than 15 big, 800 MW nuclear reactors. That is, if we assume the reactors are never taken offline.
To put it in different terms. That is the same capacity as wind turbines using 2.75 MW as large off-shore wind turbines that produce up to 8 MW. Of which, the typical capacity factor would be 42%, meaning it would save the annual production of almost 11,000 wind turbines.
The discussion of these baffling numbers took place on the CryptoCurrency thread on Reddit. Here, many began to question if blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are worth consuming so much energy. Some defended the technology by saying that it is only so for some blockchain networks and not all.
Blockchain technology has been critisized for its high energy consumption. Specifically, blockchains that use Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus use a massive amount of energy to process transactions.
The Ethereum merge will have the Ethereum blockchain shift from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus. This means that the new and improved Ethereum 2.0 will consume much less energy than the original Ethereum network.
Ethereum 2.0 will bring many upgrades to the Ethereum network and benefit its users in many ways. It will offer greater speeds and much more for its users. What’s more iconic is the fact that it will even help our planet.
