Bitcoin mining now consuming more electricity than 159 countries including Ireland and most of the countries in Africa

Bitcoin mining now consuming more electricity than 159 countries including Ireland and most of the countries in Africa

Tuesday, November 28, 2017 by: News Editors

Tags: bitcoin, Bitcoin mining, cryptocurrency, electricity, electricity consumption, environment

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(Natural News) Bitcoin’s ongoing meteoric price rise has received the bulk of recent press attention with a lot of discussion around whether or not it’s a bubble waiting to burst.
(Article republished from PowerCompare.co.uk)
However, most the coverage has missed out one of the more interesting and unintended consequences of this price increase. That is the surge in global electricity consumption used to “mine” more Bitcoins.
According to Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, as of Monday November 20th, 2017 Bitcoin’s current estimated annual electricity consumption stands at 29.05TWh.
That’s the equivalent of 0.13% of total global electricity consumption. While that may not sound like a lot, it means Bitcoin mining is now using more electricity than 159 individual countries (as you can see from the map above). More than Ireland or Nigeria.
If Bitcoin miners were a country they’d rank 61st in the world in terms of electricity consumption.
Here are a few other interesting facts about Bitcoin mining and electricity consumption:
In the past month alone, Bitcoin mining electricity consumption is estimated to have increased by 29.98%
If it keeps increasing at this rate, Bitcoin mining will consume all the world’s electricity by February 2020.
Estimated annualised global mining revenues: $7.2 billion USD (£5.4 billion)
Estimated global mining costs: $1.5 billion USD (£1.1 billion)
Number of Americans who could be powered by bitcoin mining: 2.4 million (more than the population of Houston)
Number of Britons who could be powered by bitcoin mining: 6.1 million (more than the population of Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Bradford, Liverpool, Bristol, Croydon, Coventry, Leicester & Nottingham combined) Or Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Bitcoin Mining consumes more electricity than 12 US states (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming)
All maps created using Mapchart.net. For the full breakdown of data, please keep reading.
Bitcoin Mining Electricity Consumption Vs Countries
The map at the top of the page shows, which countries currently consume more or less electricity than that consumed by global Bitcoin mining.
The map below shows how much more or less bitcoin mining energy consumption compares to each countries energy usage with 100% being equal.
E.g. Ireland currently consumes an estimated 25 TWh of electricity per year, so global Bitcoin mining consumption is 116%, or 16% more than they consume. The UK consumes an estimated 309 TWh of electricity per year so global Bitcoin mining consumption is only equivalent to 9.4% of the UK total.
The map below shows which countries in Europe consume more or less electricity than Bitcoin mining:


As mentioned, above the data for Bitcoin mining energy consumption comes from the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index. You can read about their assumptions here.

Electricity consumption data mostly comes from the CIA via Wikipedia and is mostly for 2014, since that’s the most recent year available. Unlike some other sources it includes, residential, commercial and industrial use, so may be higher than other figures quoted elsewhere.
Below we have a table showing the data we used for each country:
RANK
COUNTRY
ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION IN KWH/YEAR
BITCOIN MINING CONSUMPTION RELATIVE TO COUNTRY’S USE
1
China
5,920,000,000,000.00
0.49%
2
United States
3,913,000,000,000.00
0.74%
3
Russia
1,065,000,000,000.00
2.73%
4
India
1,001,191,000,000.00
2.90%
5
Japan
934,000,000,000.00
3.11%
6
Germany
533,000,000,000.00
5.45%
7
Canada
528,000,000,000.00
5.50%
8
Brazil
518,000,000,000.00
5.61%
9
Korea, South
495,000,000,000.00
5.87%
10
France
431,000,000,000.00
6.74%
11
United Kingdom
309,000,000,000.00
9.40%
12
Italy
291,000,000,000.00
9.98%
13
Saudi Arabia
272,000,000,000.00
10.68%
14
Taiwan
249,500,000,000.00
11.64%
15
Mexico
238,000,000,000.00
12.21%
16
Spain
234,000,000,000.00
12.41%
17
Australia
224,000,000,000.00
12.97%
18
Iran
218,000,000,000.00
13.33%
19
South Africa
212,000,000,000.00
13.70%
20
Turkey
207,000,000,000.00
14.03%
21
Indonesia
195,000,000,000.00
14.90%
22
Thailand
164,000,000,000.00
17.71%
23
Egypt
143,000,000,000.00
20.31%
24
Ukraine
143,000,000,000.00
20.31%
25
Poland
142,000,000,000.00
20.46%
26
Malaysia
131,000,000,000.00
22.18%
27
Sweden
127,000,000,000.00
22.87%
28
Norway
126,400,000,000.00
22.98%
29
Vietnam
125,000,000,000.00
23.24%
30
Argentina
116,000,000,000.00
25.04%
31
Netherlands
108,000,000,000.00
26.90%
32
United Arab Emirates
96,000,000,000.00
30.26%
33
Kazakhstan
91,000,000,000.00
31.92%
34
Philippines
90,797,891,000.00
31.99%
35
Pakistan
82,000,000,000.00
35.43%
36
Finland
81,000,000,000.00
35.86%
37
Belgium
81,000,000,000.00
35.86%
38
Venezuela
78,000,000,000.00
37.24%
39
Austria
69,750,000,000.00
41.65%
40
Chile
66,000,000,000.00
44.02%
41
Czech Republic
60,000,000,000.00
48.42%
42
Colombia
60,000,000,000.00
48.42%
43
Israel
59,830,000,000.00
48.55%
44
Switzerland
58,000,000,000.00
50.09%
45
Kuwait
54,000,000,000.00
53.80%
46
Greece
53,000,000,000.00
54.81%
47
Algeria
49,000,000,000.00
59.29%
48
Romania
48,000,000,000.00
60.52%
49
Uzbekistan
48,000,000,000.00
60.52%
50
Singapore
47,180,000,000.00
61.57%
51
Portugal
46,000,000,000.00
63.15%
52
Bangladesh
46,000,000,000.00
63.15%
53
Hong Kong
42,000,000,000.00
69.17%
54
Iraq
42,000,000,000.00
69.17%
55
New Zealand
40,000,000,000.00
72.63%
56
Peru
39,000,000,000.00
74.49%
57
Qatar
34,000,000,000.00
85.44%
58
Belarus
33,000,000,000.00
88.03%
59
Denmark
32,000,000,000.00
90.78%
60
Bulgaria
31,000,000,000.00
93.71%
61
Morocco
29,000,000,000.00
100.17%
62
Slovakia
28,360,000,000.00
102.43%
63
Serbia
26,910,000,000.00
107.95%
64
Bahrain
25,000,000,000.00
116.20%
65
Ireland
25,000,000,000.00
116.20%
66
Oman
25,000,000,000.00
116.20%
67
Nigeria
24,000,000,000.00
121.04%
68
Hungary
21,550,000,000.00
134.80%
69
Ecuador
21,000,000,000.00
138.33%
70
Azerbaijan
20,000,000,000.00
145.25%
71
Puerto Rico
19,000,000,000.00
152.89%
72
Iceland
17,000,000,000.00
170.88%
73
Syria
17,000,000,000.00
170.88%
74
Croatia
16,970,000,000.00
171.18%
75
Jordan
16,000,000,000.00
181.56%
76
Lebanon
16,000,000,000.00
181.56%
77
Dominican Republic
15,140,000,000.00
191.88%
78
Tunisia
15,000,000,000.00
193.67%
79
Cuba
15,000,000,000.00
193.67%
80
Korea, North
15,000,000,000.00
193.67%
81
Slovenia
13,000,000,000.00
223.46%
82
Turkmenistan
13,000,000,000.00
223.46%
83
Tajikistan
12,000,000,000.00
242.08%
84
Mozambique
12,000,000,000.00
242.08%
85
Kyrgyzstan
11,000,000,000.00
264.09%
86
Sri Lanka
11,000,000,000.00
264.09%
87
Zambia
11,000,000,000.00
264.09%
88
Bosnia and Herzegovina
11,000,000,000.00
264.09%
89
Myanmar
11,000,000,000.00
264.09%
90
Uruguay
10,000,000,000.00
290.50%
91
Lithuania
9,900,000,000.00
293.43%
92
Sudan
9,900,000,000.00
293.43%
93
Georgia
9,800,000,000.00
296.43%
94
Paraguay
9,700,000,000.00
299.48%
95
Libya
9,300,000,000.00
312.37%
96
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
9,300,000,000.00
312.37%
97
Costa Rica
9,200,000,000.00
315.76%
98
Ghana
9,200,000,000.00
315.76%
99
Trinidad and Tobago
9,100,000,000.00
319.23%
100
Guatemala
8,915,000,000.00
325.86%
101
Estonia
8,200,000,000.00
354.27%
102
Angola
8,100,000,000.00
358.64%
103
Zimbabwe
8,000,000,000.00
363.13%
104
Panama
7,800,000,000.00
372.44%
105
Albania
7,793,000,000.00
372.77%
106
Kenya
7,600,000,000.00
382.24%
107
Bolivia
7,500,000,000.00
387.33%
108
Macedonia
6,960,000,000.00
417.39%
109
Latvia
6,800,000,000.00
427.21%
110
Ethiopia
6,700,000,000.00
433.58%
111
Luxembourg
6,200,000,000.00
468.55%
112
Cameroon
6,100,000,000.00
476.23%
113
Ivory Coast
5,800,000,000.00
500.86%
114
El Salvador
5,700,000,000.00
509.65%
115
Mongolia
5,600,000,000.00
518.75%
116
Honduras
5,300,000,000.00
548.11%
117
West Bank
5,200,000,000.00
558.65%
118
Yemen
5,200,000,000.00
558.65%
119
Armenia
5,100,000,000.00
569.61%
120
Tanzania
5,000,000,000.00
581.00%
121
Afghanistan
4,700,000,000.00
618.09%
122
Macau
4,500,000,000.00
645.56%
123
Nicaragua
4,412,000,000.00
658.43%
124
Moldova
4,305,000,000.00
674.80%
125
Cambodia
4,100,000,000.00
708.54%
126
Laos
3,900,000,000.00
744.87%
127
Nepal
3,900,000,000.00
744.87%
128
Cyprus
3,900,000,000.00
744.87%
129
Brunei
3,766,000,000.00
771.38%
130
Botswana
3,700,000,000.00
785.14%
131
Namibia
3,700,000,000.00
785.14%
132
Papua New Guinea
3,000,000,000.00
968.33%
133
Senegal
3,000,000,000.00
968.33%
134
Kosovo
2,887,000,000.00
1006.23%
135
Montenegro
2,800,000,000.00
1037.50%
136
Jamaica
2,800,000,000.00
1037.50%
137
Uganda
2,700,000,000.00
1075.93%
138
Mauritius
2,600,000,000.00
1117.31%
139
Gabon
2,100,000,000.00
1383.33%
140
Bhutan
2,085,000,000.00
1393.29%
141
New Caledonia
2,000,000,000.00
1452.50%
142
Malta
2,000,000,000.00
1452.50%
143
Suriname
1,900,000,000.00
1528.95%
144
Malawi
1,900,000,000.00
1528.95%
145
Bahamas
1,600,000,000.00
1815.63%
146
Guam
1,500,000,000.00
1936.67%
147
Swaziland
1,500,000,000.00
1936.67%
148
Mali
1,400,000,000.00
2075.00%
149
Liechtenstein
1,360,000,000.00
2136.03%
150
Madagascar
1,300,000,000.00
2234.62%
151
Burkina Faso
1,200,000,000.00
2420.83%
152
Niger
1,200,000,000.00
2420.83%
153
Togo
1,100,000,000.00
2640.91%
154
Benin
1,000,000,000.00
2905.00%
155
Curacao
968,000,000.00
3001.03%
156
Congo, Republic of the
900,000,000.00
3227.78%
157
Guinea
900,000,000.00
3227.78%
158
Barbados
900,000,000.00
3227.78%
159
Mauritania
800,000,000.00
3631.25%
160
Lesotho
800,000,000.00
3631.25%
161
Guyana
800,000,000.00
3631.25%
162
Fiji
800,000,000.00
3631.25%
163
Aruba
800,000,000.00
3631.25%
164
French Polynesia
700,000,000.00
4150.00%
165
South Sudan
694,100,000.00
4185.28%
166
Jersey
630,100,000.00
4610.38%
167
Bermuda
600,000,000.00
4841.67%
168
Cayman Islands
600,000,000.00
4841.67%
169
U.S. Virgin Islands
600,000,000.00
4841.67%
170
Marshall Islands
600,000,000.00
4841.67%
171
Andorra
562,400,000.00
5165.36%
172
Rwanda
500,000,000.00
5810.00%
173
Burundi
400,000,000.00
7262.50%
174
Belize
400,000,000.00
7262.50%
175
Djibouti
400,000,000.00
7262.50%
176
Haiti
400,000,000.00
7262.50%
177
Seychelles
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
178
Somalia
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
179
Saint Lucia
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
180
Antigua and Barbuda
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
181
Cabo Verde
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
182
Eritrea
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
183
Faroe Islands
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
184
Gambia
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
185
Greenland
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
186
Liberia
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
187
Maldives
300,000,000.00
9683.33%
188
Chad
200,000,000.00
14525.00%
189
Saint Kitts and Nevis
200,000,000.00
14525.00%
190
Central African Republic
200,000,000.00
14525.00%
191
Sierra Leone
200,000,000.00
14525.00%
192
Turks and Caicos Islands
200,000,000.00
14525.00%
193
Gibraltar
200,000,000.00
14525.00%
194
Grenada
200,000,000.00
14525.00%
195
Micronesia, Federated States of
178,600,000.00
16265.40%
196
Timor-Leste
125,300,000.00
23184.36%
197
British Virgin Islands
100,000,000.00
29050.00%
198
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
100,000,000.00
29050.00%
199
American Samoa
100,000,000.00
29050.00%
200
Samoa
100,000,000.00
29050.00%
201
Equatorial Guinea
91,140,000.00
31874.04%
202
Dominica
90,210,000.00
32202.64%
203
Western Sahara
83,700,000.00
34707.29%
204
Solomon Islands
79,050,000.00
36748.89%
205
Sao Tome and Principe
65,100,000.00
44623.66%
206
Vanuatu
55,800,000.00
52060.93%
207
Tonga
46,500,000.00
62473.12%
208
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
41,850,000.00
69414.58%
209
Comoros
40,920,000.00
70992.18%
210
Guinea-Bissau
31,620,000.00
91872.23%
211
Cook Islands
31,620,000.00
91872.23%
212
Kiribati
27,900,000.00
104121.86%
213
Nauru
23,250,000.00
124946.24%
214
Montserrat
21,390,000.00
135811.13%
215
Falkland Islands
13,950,000.00
208243.73%
216
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
9,300,000.00
312365.59%
217
Niue
3,720,000.00
780913.98%
218
Gaza Strip
202,000.00
14381188.12%
219
Northern Mariana Islands
48,300.00
60144927.54%
Bitcoin Mining Electricity Consumption Vs US States
While doing the research we also though it might be interesting to compare Bitcoin mining energy consumption to US states. So we created the map below:

Overall, 12 States consume less electricity than Bitcoin Mining (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming).
The data for this section comes from the EIA and is for 2015 and uses total retail sales. Please note this data set uses MWh instead of kWh.
STATE
TOTAL RETAIL SALES (MWH)
BITCOIN MINING CONSUMPTION RELATIVE TO STATE’S USE
Alabama
88,845,543.00
33%
Alaska
6,159,204.00
472%
Arizona
77,349,416.00
38%
Arkansas
46,465,154.00
63%
California
261,170,437.00
11%
Colorado
54,116,046.00
54%
Connecticut
29,476,155.00
99%
Delaware
11,498,205.00
253%
District of Columbia
11,291,233.00
257%
Florida
235,599,398.00
12%
Georgia
135,878,215.00
21%
Hawaii
9,511,352.00
305%
Idaho
23,058,814.00
126%
Illinois
138,619,970.00
21%
Indiana
104,514,518.00
28%
Iowa
47,147,293.00
62%
Kansas
39,849,127.00
73%
Kentucky
76,038,630.00
38%
Louisiana
91,676,489.00
32%
Maine
11,888,168.00
244%
Maryland
61,781,719.00
47%
Massachusetts
54,621,088.00
53%
Michigan
102,479,921.00
28%
Minnesota
66,579,234.00
44%
Mississippi
48,691,529.00
60%
Missouri
81,504,081.00
36%
Montana
14,206,911.00
204%
Nebraska
29,495,073.00
98%
Nevada
36,019,690.00
81%
New Hampshire
10,999,149.00
264%
New Jersey
75,489,623.00
38%
New Mexico
23,093,553.00
126%
New York
148,913,655.00
20%
North Carolina
133,847,523.00
22%
North Dakota
18,128,948.00
160%
Ohio
149,213,224.00
19%
Oklahoma
61,336,385.00
47%
Oregon
47,263,974.00
61%
Pennsylvania
146,344,028.00
20%
Rhode Island
7,664,718.00
379%
South Carolina
81,328,246.00
36%
South Dakota
12,101,979.00
240%
Tennessee
99,632,108.00
29%
Texas
392,337,354.00
7%
Utah
30,192,350.00
96%
Vermont
5,521,109.00
526%
Virginia
112,009,045.00
26%
Washington
90,116,086.00
32%
West Virginia
32,303,026.00
90%
Wisconsin
68,698,932.00
42%
Wyoming
16,924,762.00
172%
Growth of Bitcoin Mining Electricity Consumption

While Bitcoin Mining is only currently consuming 0.13% of the world’s electricity output, it’s growing incredibly quickly.
The Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index estimates consumption has increased by 29.98% over the past month. If that growth rate were to continue, and countries did not add any new power generating capacity, Bitcoin mining would:
Be greater than UK electricity consumption by October 2018 (309 TWh)
Be greater than US electricity consumption by July 2019 (3,913 TWh)
Consume all the world’s electricity by February 2020. (21,776 TWh)
The Cost of Mining Bitcoins
The Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index estimates that the total annual cost of mining Bitcoins stands at $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion).
However, that assumes Bitcoin mining is occurring in places with cheap electricity (not an unreasonable assumption).
The US average retail price per kilowatthour is 10.41 cents, which means using 28.05 TWh would cost: $3.02 billion (£2.28 billion).
In the UK it would even more expensive, assuming you paid the rock bottom price of 10.10 pence per kilowatthour (Bulb’s prices for London homes) it would still cost £2.93 billion ($3.89 billion).
Interestingly, Bitcoin’s price increase over the last month has been just over 40%, which is greater than the increase in electricity consumption.
This means the estimated annualised global mining revenues now stand at $7.2 billion USD (£5.4 billion), which even at the more expensive estimates listed above, means it’s still very profitable.
How Does Bitcoin Mining Consume Electricity?
At a very basic level Bitcoin mining requires expensive and power hungry computer hardware. As the the IEEE explains:
Mining power is high and getting higher, thanks to a computational arms race. Recall that the required number of zeros at the beginning of a hash is tweaked biweekly to adjust the difficulty of creating a block—and more zeros means more difficulty.
The Bitcoin algorithm adds these zeros in order to keep the rate at which blocks are added constant, at one new block every 10 minutes. The idea is to compensate for the mining hardware becoming more and more powerful.
When the hashing is harder, it takes more computations to create a block and thus more effort to earn new bitcoins, which are then added to circulation.
To better understand how this whole process works have a look at Investopedia’s guide.
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Read more at: PowerCompare.co.uk

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