Bitcoin's Environmental Footprint: A Nuanced Reality
Bitcoin's reputation for being bad for the environment has been overstated. The network does use significant energy, but more than half of that electricity now comes from renewable sources or nuclear power.
This is according to Cambridge's latest mining survey, which estimates that 52.4% of the electricity used by the Bitcoin network comes from sustainable sources, including 42.6% renewables and 9.8% nuclear.
Bitcoin uses approximately 151 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year, a figure tracked daily by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF).
This is lower than estimates for the global banking system's energy footprint as a whole, but higher than its physical infrastructure alone. However, data centers are now the bigger driver of electricity demand, while Bitcoin's mining efficiency has improved substantially over time.