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The Cambridge Centre for Different Finance (CCAF) has revised its Bitcoin electrical energy consumption estimates, addressing longstanding issues concerning the accuracy of its Cambridge Bitcoin Electrical energy Consumption Index (CBECI). The brand new examine, titled “Bitcoin electrical energy consumption: an improved evaluation,” dated August 31, 2023, has ignited discussions amongst crypto fans and environmentalists alike.
Cambridge Revises Down False Bitcoin Vitality Estimates
Daniel Batten, a outstanding local weather activist and Bitcoin environmental analyst, was fast to weigh in on the matter. He tweeted, “Cambridge have simply up to date their Bitcoin energy/power consumption methodology. It’s decreased round 25% and is now trying rather more correct. My mannequin says 13.095 GW. Similar to Cambridge now.”
Batten additional elaborated on the important thing takeaways from the revised examine: The CCAF mannequin overestimated the BTC power demand by 16.8% in 2021, and 10.2% in 2022. That is in alignment together with his earlier analysis the place he steered earlier this yr that their mannequin was overestimating by 20.6%.
He debunked Greenpeace USA’s declare, stating there’s “clear proof that Greenpeace USA’s declare that Bitcoin used as a lot power as Sweden was incorrect, and was primarily based on CCAF historic overstatements.”
On a lighter notice, the CCAF’s new estimates equate Bitcoin’s power use to “tumble dryers within the US.” Batten additionally highlighted that whereas CCAF has adjusted their power consumption figures, they “haven’t but revised their emissions estimates past the direct influence of revised power consumption.”
Batten additionally identified that the emissions are nonetheless overestimated by 67.6% because of outdated emission depth calculations. He counseled CCAF for his or her transparency and alignment with business information, stating, “Whereas there may be nonetheless a lot work to do on the emissions estimate facet, CCAF ought to be praised for updating their mannequin.” He additional agreed with CCAF’s potential to scale back their emission estimates to round 34 Mt CO2e/yr as soon as sure components are thought-about.
The CCAF report delved into the explanations behind the discrepancies of their earlier mannequin. It acknowledged, “The spine of our earlier CBECI methodology was the idea that each worthwhile {hardware} mannequin launched lower than 5 years in the past equally fuelled the entire community hashrate.” This led to an overrepresentation of older gadgets.
Upon re-examination, they discovered that newer tools was underrepresented. This resulted in a big discrepancy within the 2021 and 2022 estimates, which have now been revised to 89.0 TWh and 95.5 TWh respectively.
The Tide Has Turned
Batten, in a subsequent tweet, declared, “OK I’m calling it. The tide has turned within the narrative round Bitcoin & power.” He cited current acknowledgments from Cambridge, tutorial papers, and a KPMG report that gave Bitcoin a constructive ESG ranking. He cautioned, nevertheless, that misinformation nonetheless persists, notably from retailers just like the NY Occasions and Greenpeace USA.
Batten concluded with a hopeful notice, emphasizing that whereas there’s work to be finished in educating the general public about Bitcoin’s power consumption, “The method has begun. The tide has turned.”
For these all for delving deeper into the revised estimates and the methodology behind them, the complete report is on the market at Cambridge’s official web site.
At press time, BTC traded at $26,041.
Featured picture from Columbia College, chart from TradingView.com
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