#Power consumption software#

In the table above, the value reported for Netflix includes their self-reported direct and indirect usage. There is some discussion of this issue on Carbon Brief (opens in a new tab) ↗. Indirect usage could also include the energy required to consume content on end-user devices such as TVs, computers and mobiles, which in turn depends on which devices are used. Estimates of their energy consumption vary depending upon whether they only include the energy used to maintain their systems and deliver content to users ( direct expenditure) or whether they include the expenditure required to produce content, run corporate offices, advertise, etc ( indirect expenditure). It is complicated to get accurate estimates for energy consumption, especially when what is being measured has a complex supply chain or deployment details that influence its efficiency. This helps us better understand whether the estimate for Ethereum is high or low. To contextualize Ethereum's energy consumption, we can compare annualized estimates for some other industries. This value changes as nodes enter and leave the network - you can keep track using a rolling 7-day average estimate by the Cambridge Blockchain network Sustainability Index (opens in a new tab) ↗ (note that they use a slightly different method for their estimates - details available on their site). The estimated 2,601 MWh (0.0026 TWh) for the network’s annual electricity consumption corresponds to yearly carbon emissions of 870 tonnes CO2e applying regional-specific carbon intensity factors.

#Power consumption software#

They measured the electricity consumption of different nodes with various hardware and client software configurations. They generated bottom-up estimates of the electricity consumption and the carbon footprint of the Ethereum network ( see the report (opens in a new tab) ↗). The energy consumption estimate for Ethereum comes from a CCRI (Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute) (opens in a new tab) ↗ study. Ethereum's energy consumption is approximately ~0.0026 TWh/yr (opens in a new tab) ↗ across the entire global network. Ethereum's proof-of-stake consensus mechanism uses ETH instead of energy to secure the network. Page last updated: JEthereum's energy expenditureĮthereum is a green blockchain.