Tron uses almost 100% less energy than Bitcoin and Ethereum, study shows
Tron beats top cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum in the energy savings department, new research shows.
Web3 has gained a very bad reputation in environmental protection and sustainable development.
This is mainly due to blockchains such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, whose protocols require huge amounts of energy.
However, recent research has revealed that Tron is one of the greenest networks out there.
The Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute released a study on Wednesday that says the Tron network’s low power requirements make it one of the most environmentally friendly blockchains.
Tron: The environmentally friendly blockchain
The research team, which focuses on reducing carbon emissions for crypto initiatives, compared the power consumption of a number of networks using different consensus techniques.
According to the figures, TRON used only 162,868 kWh of electricity last year, which is 99.9 percent less than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Energy efficiency is a known strength of the Proof of Stake consensus family, which has long been considered the superior consensus algorithm.
Compared to the conventional Proof of Work consensus techniques, this is an alternative. POS requires validators to stake money to propose or vote for new blocks.
CCRI is responsible for auditing the network’s energy efficiency and carbon footprint. The institute has rigorously compared the energy efficiency of the best POS networks with that of their POW counterparts.
Tron more energy efficient than BTC and ETH
The report examined the electricity consumption and carbon footprint of a number of proof-of-stake networks, including Algorand, Avalanche, Cardano, Polkadot, Tezos, Solana and TRON, and compared them to Bitcoin and Ethereum, the main proof-of-work networks.
POW blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, use more than 83 million kilowatt hours (kWh) and 22 million kWh, respectively. After “The Merge”, Ethereum will transition to a POS consensus method in mid-September.
Tron reported an annual energy usage of 162,868 kWh for over 2.31 billion transactions, which is 99.9% less than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
According to CCRI, this made Tron’s energy consumption “equivalent to the energy consumption of 15 average American homes.”
Impact on the environment
“The increasing amount of energy consumption of modern blockchains is not sustainable in the long term for either consumers or economies of scale,” says TRON’s founder, Justin Sun.
The most effective networks, he added, will be those that “encourage decentralization while minimizing their environmental impact.”
One of the biggest problems with cryptocurrencies is the amount of energy they use. For example, Elon Musk reversed his 2021 decision to accept Bitcoin as payment for Tesla vehicles, citing “environmental concerns.”
The billionaire also stated that Tesla would resume accepting Bitcoin if and only if the cryptocurrency took steps to improve its impact on the environment.
BTC’s total market cap at $141 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com
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