Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming the largest energy hog within worldwide digital infrastructure. In my latest research, published in the academic journal Joule today, I show that AI systems were responsible for up to 20% of global data center power demand by the end of last year. …
In recent years it has become well known that cryptocurrency networks such as the Bitcoin network are energy intensive systems. As of 2024, Bitcoin mining operates on more than 16 gigawatts of power demand, responsible for around 80 megatonnes of annual carbon emissions. Ethereum proved in 2022 that …
It has been nine years since Digiconomist was first launched with the objective of “exposing the unintended consequences of digital trends.” For a big part of these nine years, the sustainability of digital assets such as Bitcoin has been a key focus of the research by Digiconomist.
It wasn’t long ago non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were making headlines for their excessive environmental impact. Most of these NFTs were making use of the Ethereum blockchain or a related platform, which meant they were also impacted by the energy-hungry proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism that was part of Ethereum until …
A new article published in the peer-reviewed journal “Patterns” has caught the attention of various mainstream media such as the BBC and Bloomberg.
Digiconomist has launched a new API for developers to retrieve energy consumption and carbon footprint data on the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin networks.
For many years, the Bitcoin community has argued that the network is running on a significant share of renewable energy sources.
In recent weeks several organizations have started experimenting with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on top of the Polygon network.
Next to the Bitcoin and Ethereum Energy Consumption Index a new Dogecoin Energy Consumption Index has been added to Digiconomist.
“Should bitcoin’s mass adoption continue, an escalating climate crisis is inevitable, disproportionately exacerbating social and environmental challenges for communities already experiencing multiple dimensions of deprivation.“
Almost five years after Digiconomist first started providing insights into the energy consumption of the Bitcoin network, a new study in collaboration with Christian Stoll from MIT now provides new insights in another major component of Bitcoin’s wasteful design.
The record-breaking surge in Bitcoin price at the start of 2021 may result in the network consuming as much energy as all data centers globally, with an associated carbon footprint matching London’s footprint size.
