The Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) has released its fifth quarterly report. The data collected concerns 45 miners representing more than 50% of the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin is going green
The report tells us that Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) miners currently use electricity that is 66.8% green energy.
The estimate for the entire Bitcoin network is lower, and is likely to be 59.5% green power, up 6% from last year.
Overall, the mining bitcoin consumes 0.15% of the world’s energy. That’s 24 times less than air conditioning or almost half the size of the gold mining industry. Its share in global CO2 emissions is 0.086%.
The progress, however, is dazzling. The energy efficiency of the Bitcoin network increased by 46%, from 14.4 to 21.1 exahash per gigawatt in one year. This efficiency has been increased by 58 in eight years and is now shown at 47.4 J/TH.
So, here’s a very interesting graph revealed by Marathon CEO Fred Thiel. You can see on the left the types of machines used globally to mine Bitcoin. On the right is the energy efficiency projection.
Go here to understand the report’s truly impressive graphs. Here’s what Michael Saylor said during the presentation:
“In the second quarter of 2022, the bitcoin network hashrate increased by 137% while energy consumption increased by only 63%. [en glissement annuel], giving us a 46% increase in energy efficiency. The latter has increased due to advances in semiconductor technology, the rapid expansion of mining in North America, the exodus of China, and the adoption of renewable energy and modern mining around the world. »
Big in Texas
Part of the presentation was dedicated to Texas, a benevolent state towards miners that is seen as an asset by purchasing electricity during off-peak hours. This money acts as a subsidy for renewable energy.
Except that miners must cease their operations during peak demand. That’s no problem for Argo’s CEO who doesn’t hide it “Sixteen miners had to return 1,000 megawatts to the grid this week”. Compare that to the 86,000 megawatts consumed by Texas on a very hot day.
In fact, the high temperatures force Texans to air-condition, causing the price of electricity to explode. The price per MW/h can go up to $5,000 according to the CEO of Riot Blockchain, the largest Texan miner.
But since miners have set a price of electricity for the year, much lower than $5,000, they are advised to resell it instead of using it to mine bitcoin.
Very good. But what about the shortfall when BTC hits $100,000? Not to mention the overall increase in the price of the joule. And especially the gas joule:
For Sébastien Gouspillou, CEO of Big Block (the first French miner), the fact that 11% of the hashrate is in Texas “may not last”. The price of gas pumped at the same time as shale oil “will increase in the end”does he have declared at the BFM Crypto microphone.
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Nicolas Teterel
Journalist reporting on the Bitcoin revolution. My papers deal with bitcoin through geopolitical, economic and libertarian prisms.
