E-car pioneer Tesla is investing 1.5 billion US dollars in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
But, of all people, that doesn't go down well with many eco-activists.
Tesla * is investing $ 1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
The cryptocurrency is criticized because of the extremely high power consumption in mining.
Users on the net see this as a contradiction to the environmentally friendly image of the car manufacturer.
Palo Alto / California - Tesla builds electric cars * - and founder Elon Musk also relies on the argument of environmental friendliness.
On the company's website, for example, Tesla advertises a solar roof: “Replace your conventional roof tiles and generate clean energy.” One of the carmaker's recent investments is much less environmentally friendly: The Californian company is investing 1.5 billion US dollars in it Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
But the production of this digital currency is massively criticized - because of its enormous energy requirements.
According to calculations by Cambridge University, so-called mining - i.e. the production of bitcoins using large data centers - currently consumes around 124 terawatt hours (TWh) per year.
In this process, which translates as "prospecting", the digital currency is generated by computers solving crypto tasks *.
In the "Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index", the university compares this value with the energy consumption of individual countries.
The result: The annual electricity demand of the cryptocurrency is currently just below the demand of Norway (124.1 TWh) and ahead of that of the United Arab Emirates (119.5 TWh).
While Germany is in 9th place in the Cambridge ranking with around 524 TWh and thus immediately ahead of Bitcoin electricity consumption, there are numerous large economies that get by with less energy.
Bitcoin statistics show: the annual energy requirement of the cryptocurrency is higher than that of many countries
Bitcoin power requirements are constantly updated on the University of Cambridge website.
Users who observe this over the long term find that energy consumption is increasing immensely.
As the Austrian newspaper
Der Standard reported
in July 2019, the electricity demand at that time was still 64.15 TWh.
In the past year and a half, this number has almost doubled.
This is due to the tremendous rise in the rate of the currency.
In July 2019, the artificial currency was still quoted at 13,875 US dollars.
Bitcoin now costs over $ 46,000.
The higher the rate *, the more complicated a single Bitcoin has to be encrypted.
That in turn requires more computing capacity - and thus more energy.
Shortly after Tesla's entry into the crypto currency *, its price rose by around 15 percent - and with it future energy requirements.
As can be seen from the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, the energy demand for Bitcoin is huge.
The electricity consumption of a single transaction corresponds roughly to the 23-day requirement of a four-person household.
The carbon footprint is comparable to watching internet video for 54,000 hours.
Bitcoin mining: production also with fossil fuels
The high electricity demand also appears ecologically problematic due to the locations.
According to an overview from the University of Cambridge, the majority of the data centers are in Asia - a continent with a high proportion of fossil fuels.
Bitcoin is by no means the only climate offender: If, for example, electrical devices were to be switched off completely in the US instead of operating them in stand-by mode, according to the experts' calculations, you could mine Bitcoins for 1.8 years.
Conversely, this means an annual electricity consumption of 223 TWh per year in the USA - due to stand-by electricity guzzlers.
Tesla boss Elon Musk * has to take a lot of criticism online because of his Bitcoin engagements.
"Now that he's buying 1.5 billion Bitcoin, it should be clear: Tesla is wasting energy," says a Twitter user.
Another says: "A not so green move by Tesla." Another user also provides statistics on Bitcoin power consumption on Twitter and comments: "Tesla fanboys who talk about efficiency and then buy Bitcoin."
Cambridge Study on Bitcoin Power Consumption - University Methodology:
The calculated index is based on a model by the researcher Marc Bevand.
He uses the consumption of typical mining hardware as a basis for calculation - with large fluctuations, depending on the hardware used.
This results in two values.
The lower limit assumes, for example, that all miners use the most energy-efficient equipment that is currently available.
The upper limit results from obsolete hardware.
The Cambridge experts assume a mix of older as well as newer and more profitable mining computers in their calculation.
(nap) * Merkur.de and fr.de are part of the Ippen-Digital network.
List of rubric lists: © Odd Andersen / AFP
