Bitcoin mining is getting greener, says Bitcoin Mining Council

Research by the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) has again shown that Bitcoin’s green credentials continue to improve year on year. 

The latest Bitcoin Mining Data review, focusing on the second quarter of 2022, includes data from 45 mining companies, collectively accounting for more than half of the global mining network. 

According to the BMC, these mining companies are currently using a 66% sustainable energy mix. Based on this data, the council estimates that the entire industry uses a sustainable energy mix of 59.5%. In other words, almost 60% of the entire Bitcoin mining community uses sustainable energy to power their operations. Sustainable energy means power generated from solar, wind or geothermal energy, among other clean energy production methods. 

The survey considered electricity consumption, technological efficiency and the sustainable power mix used by miners. 

Hashrate’s up but energy use is following another course

The research showed that while the Bitcoin network’s hashrate has improved by 137% in the last year, meaning that the network has become more secure, the amount of energy required to maintain the growth in computational power linked to this has not moved at the same rate, increasing only by 63%. “This efficiency gain reaffirms the fact that as the Bitcoin Network continues to grow, it will become even more efficient over time,” says the BMC. 

This improvement is due to technological advances in mining rigs, the expansion of North American mining, the China exodus, the worldwide adoption of sustainable energy and modern bitcoin mining techniques, the council explained.

Energy efficiency is where the money is 

“As the global hashrate continues to grow over time, one would think that the amount of energy needed would grow on a linear path,” said Michael Saylor, presenting the findings on Youtube. “And it doesn’t,” he added. The average amount of electricity needed has reduced by 90% since 2020. 

The report comes as Samsung announced the start of semiconductor chip production, which reportedly will reduce power consumption by up to 45% and improve performance by 23%. 

Fred Thiel, CEO of Bitcon mining company Marathon DH, explained in the BMC presentation that as Bitcoin adoption grows and more miners enter the market, the difficulty rate will increase. This will further drive miners to seek ‘smarter’ and more efficient mining rigs. “Longer-term, this industry will become more energy efficient,” Thiel said. “Depending on the profitability, this industry will be forced to [do so].”

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