Cambridge publishes website energy consumption bitcoin, less than the Netherlands

The Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has worked hard on a large data project for bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrencys. A researcher at CCAF, Michael Rauchs, tweeted about the launch of the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), or an index of bitcoin’s electricity consumption:

1) I’m delighted to announce the launch of the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), a live model that tracks the estimated annual electricity usage of the Bitcoin network in real time. https://t.co/jDAQ49gJt2 pic.twitter.com/yA0LM2leqd

– Michel Rauchs (@mrauchs) July 2, 2019

He describes CBECI as a pilot project in response to the growing concern about the sustainability and environmental impact of mining bitcoin. Although the project is still in its early days, this launch is interesting for the following reasons:

1. The CCAF acknowledges that the debate on bitcoins polarizes electricity consumption and that both sides manipulate data and data to make their point more attractive. Rauchs explains: “We want to provide an impartial and objective basis for comparisons that show the two sides of the debate, so that visitors can assess the situation independently and form their own opinion.”
2. The CCAF realizes that energy units of account (GW, TWh, etc.) can be confusing. The CBECI project attempts to place many numbers in a context by adding comparisons to easy to understand concepts
3. The CBECI is fairly transparent and listens to feedback / criticism from both sides of the debate. The willingness to cooperate with people from both sides is an intelligent approach, which hopefully over time leads to more accuracy and reliability.

You can visit the website via www.cbeci.org. Below you will find some relevant and fun comparisons.

The bar graph above shows how much energy a country uses per year in TWh. China and the US dominate the chart. The Netherlands consumes more than the bitcoin network. Bitcoin is in 43rd place and the Netherlands in 32nd.

A very small percentage of all electricity production and consumption is only due to bitcoin.

With all sustainably generated energy you can provide the bitcoin network with energy several times a year.

The debate about the energy consumption of bitcoin is not suddenly over now that Cbeci.org is online, but the debate can now be conducted in a more nuanced way.