The debate about bitcoin's energy consumption is often biased for two reasons.
- There is little information
- They are sometimes WRONG
If the lack of information is problematic (The Big Whale is also there for that 😎 ), the presence of false information is even more so. And at this little game, some have become experts.
One of the best known is undoubtedly "Digiconomist".
Since 2016, this site created by the Dutchman, Alex de Vries, has been feeding heavily into the media and some think tanks that rely on its now famous "Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index" to talk about bitcoin consumption.
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The "peculiarity" of Digiconomist is that it systematically retains the highest levels (165 TWh in June 2022), and its methodology of comparing bitcoin's consumption with those of other countries (which were used above) is regularly challenged.
Digiconomist also points out the electronic waste that bitcoin miners would generate because their machines would be obsolete after... fifteen months. An argument that makes some people smile. "We have machines from 2016 that are still running fine," quips Sebastien Gouspillou of Big Block Datacenter.
Important detail: Alex de Vries has worked for the Dutch National Bank, as well as for the Dutch bank ING.
Serious" studies exist
If credible publications are not legion, there are nevertheless some! That of the Center of Alternative Finance, an independent laboratory integrated into the University of Cambridge, is surely one of the best on this subject. "Their work is of fairly good quality", underlines Sébastien Gouspillou, who nevertheless points out some shortcomings in the mapping by country.
"Cambridge relies on data from mining pools, while many do not provide their real IP address when they want to remain discreet," explains Sebastien Gouspillou. This is why Ireland and Germany can be among the most "consuming" countries, even though there are hardly any miners on their territory.
The example of Big Block Datacenter is quite interesting. The mining company is considered to be in Europe, and more precisely in Belgium, while the operations are done in... Africa. "Our satellite operator is registered in Belgium," Sebastien Gouspillou laughs.
Another study has also made its way into the industry. And for good reason, it comes from there! "The Cambridge study is still relevant, but I think the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) has better data," points out Romain Nouzareth, whose company Sato sits on this international organization that brings together the main miners (70% of the global network!).
However, the study has one major weakness: its data is declarative and its members could be tempted to lie to "green" the industry. Other studies have emerged in recent months and have enjoyed some success. This is the case of the Arcane Research study, which is also produced by a player very close to the industry.
In 2022, there is no "perfect" report on the energy consumption of bitcoin (and cryptos) yet. But the growing debate on the subject shows that things will have to accelerate. And who knows maybe lead to the creation of a branch or agency dedicated to the topic?
