Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining have been the ways to create new cryptocurrencies and earn increments found by validating information in the blockchain, and this process was discovered to take up as much as 2 percent of US electricity. In the latest studies that provided an estimate of its consumption, it was found to take up as much as 25 to 91 Terawatt hours.
These estimates are still looking into the entirety of Bitcoin mining in the United States, especially as it matches several states' energy consumption for human users and households.
Bitcoin Mining Takes 2 Percent of US Electricity
Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its preliminary findings about Bitcoin mining operations and their power consumption, saying that it takes up around two percent of the country's electricity in the process. As the EIA looks to track Bitcoin mining's energy consumption, the agency is actively investigating the matter to which it saw a colossal rise.
Our preliminary estimates suggest that annual electricity use from cryptocurrency mining probably represents 0.6% to 2.3% of U.S. electricity consumption.
EIA
The agency is still facing challenges in this tracking as there is a "dynamic nature" in the crypto market regarding that mining assets can be moved rapidly to different areas that have lower power costs.
The Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance also released data from its study of Bitcoin mining's effect, with a rough estimate of as much as 25 to 91 Terawatt-hours consumed by the activity. It was discovered that operations moved to places near underutilized power plants which put numbers through the roof again, and from 2020 to 2022, it saw a collective jump to using over 2 Terawatt-hours.
Cambridge Center's low estimate of 25 Terawatt hours is already equivalent to Utah's energy consumption as a whole.
Bitcoin Mining and its Scrutiny
The United States is one of the top Bitcoin mining countries in the world and this is because the country still allows the process with several regulations placed for this part of the crypto industry. It is known that China previously banned Bitcoin mining in its country in 2021, seeing as much as a 38 percent fall after its crackdown, with several miners continuing their business in places where it is allowed.
However, despite its continued existence in the US, there is still massive scrutiny it faces, and back in 2021, there were significant protests against Bitcoin mining in New York. Particularly, in the Finger Lakes region where it was regarded by the locals that it is destroying bodies of water, with the mining process gravely affecting the lakes never experienced before.
There were campaigns in the US that wanted to make Bitcoin mining illegal as it takes up a massive amount of power to work, disrupting grids and affecting locals' lives in the process. Texas, New York, and Georgia are the main hotspots of Bitcoin Mining said Cambridge Center, with the Energy Information Agency claiming that it uses a total of two percent of the country's energy.
