Ethereum’s Energy Efficiency Transition Lauded as “Momentous win for the climate” and “just the Beginning”

Social Media Event - Press Conference - 11am EST on Twitter

The Ethereum blockchain has successfully transitioned today to an operating and security mechanism that requires 99.95% less electricity. This accomplishment is being applauded by a wide range of voices inside and outside of the tech community.

“This is a historic achievement, and it was done by a decentralized team of over 100 developers. That is a very impressive accomplishment” said Ben West, a seasoned climate campaigner and Gitcoin cause round lead. “This is arguably the most significant reduction of energy consumption from any industry in modern history. This efficiency increase leads to a reduction of approximately 41 million tons of GreenHouse Gases (GHGs) a year in perpetuity from this point on, the equivalent of the annual emissions estimates from all of the Netherlands or Sweden” said West.

At a social media press conference live on Twitter Thursday morning at 11am EST, environmentalists and leaders from various tech communities will gather together to share their perspectives on this turning point moment. Media are welcome to attend and ask questions of the panelists.

“We see this as just the beginning. This increase in the efficiency of the Ethereum blockchain will just make it all that more attractive for people like us who are excited about the potential for this technology to put more money directly in the hands of regular people and unlock greater verifiability and transparency in climate solutions projects in a decentralized way that eliminates the need for middle men like corporations or government agencies” said Pranav Khanna from Refi South and LOA Labs.

Even in the midst of today's major achievement significantly reducing ongoing emissions, climate experts urged renewed commitment to action.

“Congratulations to everyone in the Ethereum community today for this momentous accomplishment. It's great to see the efforts made by developers and others who found ways to use their skills to dramatically reduce Ethereum’s emissions.

“Reducing emissions is just the first step toward making Ethereum a net positive for the climate. The next step is to rally the community to support climate action via mechanisms like verified carbon credits, with the aim to mitigate more than the total amount of historic emissions from the Ethereum blockchain, as well as compensate for ongoing residual emissions '' said Marcus Aurelius from KlimaDAO, speaking as part of the newly formed ETH 4 Climate initiative.

Anna Lerner, Executive Director of the Climate Collective went on to say “This monumental reduction of energy use by Ethereum is a significant boost to the credibility of the emerging web3 x climate industry and the positive impact that can be built on the blockchain. The Climate Collective, an expanding coalition of companies building at the intersection of web3 and climate action is proud to be a signatory to the statement of support and look forward to growing the web3 climate space."

This sign-on statement has been circulated by ETH 4 Climate, inviting people worldwide to add their names to those expressing their support for “The Merge '' and desire to see positive impact coming out of the Ethereum ecosystem.

“We invite people to come and be a part of the next steps in Ethereum’s climate-positive journey,” said West.

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For More information contact:

David Fortson - @dave_fortson, david@loalabs.io

Ben West - @BenWest

Pranav Khana - @checkfit, pranav@loalabs.io

Anna Lerner - anna@climatecollective.org

Marcus Aurileus - 0xKlimaurelius

This change (also known as “The Merge”) will end the use of energy-intensive, warehouse scale, computer equipment that has been used up until now to secure Ethereum's blockchain transactions.

This transition will reduce the energy consumption of the Ethereum blockchain by an estimated 99.95%.

The “Merge” is the successful merging of two separate blockchains, one that is energy intensive by design and another is energy efficient by design in order to switch the existing Ethereum blockchain to the more efficient option.

This achievement is arguably one of the most significant reductions of energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions from any large industry in modern history.

Annual electricity use associated with the Ethereum blockchain is approximately 112 TWh/yr. The most conservative (highest) estimates of the greenhouse gases associated with one year of the Ethereum blockchain are approximately 53 million tons per year. This transition is similar to removing the emissions of the country of Switzerland annually and in perpetuity.

We applaud this historical achievement, as well as the community-led efforts already underway to use web3 tools and applications built on Ethereum and other energy efficient blockchains to go well beyond mitigating historic emissions and to become globally available open source infrastructure that underpins the verifiability and transparency essential to address the climate crisis.

We are hopeful that many organisations interested in the real world use cases of web3 technology who have hesitated to explore what is possible will now take a second look.

Together we can all play a role in charting a path forward for the responsible use of this innovative technology as a valuable tool and know that you are supporting energy efficient blockchain technology in the process.

Join us in Affirmation

I am joining the international effort to go beyond offsetting and mitigating Ethereum’s historical carbon footprint and explore strategies for regenerative, net positive climate solutions.

**Sincerely,

Sign here.**

https://forms.gle/DxJFCqALJS4RQamCA

Gitcoin * BICOWG * Klima * Regen Network * LOA Labs * Celo * disCarbon * Helios * Guardians of Earth * (add your organization)

About: ETH 4 Climate is a coalition of individuals and organizations integrating carbon credits and other environmental assets from a variety of sources into a comprehensive climate-positive strategy for Ethereum, supporting multiple credit types from a variety of reputable registries and sourced from multiple providers.

1*  https://blog.ethereum.org/2021/05/18/country-power-no-more

2* https://digiconomist.net/ethereum-energy-consumption/