# How Much Energy Does Bitcoin Actually Consume?

By [Rustyblob](https://paragraph.com/@rustyblob) · 2022-01-18

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Elon Musk’s tweet single-handedly resulted in ~10% drop in Bitcoin price

So is Bitcoin, and by extension the decentralized future really that expensive for the environment?

Let’s take a look

Bitcoin currently consumes ~ 140 TWh / year — 0.55% of global electricity production, or roughly equivalent to the annual energy draw of small countries like Malaysia or Sweden

Before we see the implications of this ...

… let's clarify a couple of things

1.  Energy consumption =/ Carbon emissions - In Fact, many reports have stated most (75%) of this energy being utilized is renewable and hence carbon neutral
    
2.  Almost all of the energy used worldwide must be produced relatively close to its end users — but Bitcoin has no such limitation, enabling miners to utilize power sources that are inaccessible for most other applications
    
3.  The vast majority of Bitcoin’s energy consumption happens during the mining process. Once coins have been issued, the energy required to validate transactions is minimal. Considering 90% of bitcoin has been mined, overall consumption is projected to go down
    

Ultimately, it comes down to whether you believe 0.55% of peak energy consumption is the right price for a decentralized future?

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*Originally published on [Rustyblob](https://paragraph.com/@rustyblob/how-much-energy-does-bitcoin-actually-consume)*