Research: Ethereum’s energy consumption dropped by 99% due to Merge upgrade

In mid-September, Ethereum (ETH) switched from Proof of Work (PoW) up Proof of Stake (PoS). Scalability was an important reason for this upgrade under the name ‘The Merge’, but energy consumption is also important. Since the adjustment, consumption has fallen by more than 99%.

Energy consumption Ethereum dropped sharply

This is evident from a paper by patterns. Many cryptocurrencies are being challenged by regulatory authorities because the networks are over-consuming, the researchers write. But Ethereum has managed to significantly reduce power consumption. Patterns estimates that after The Merge on September 15, consumption fell by 99.84% to 99.996%.

The reduction would be equivalent to the electricity consumption of a country such as Ireland or Austria. The continuous consumption would be a minimum of 36 kilowatts and a maximum of 675 kilowatts, depending on the circumstances. The network was previously subject to competition from miners. As a result, the network would in principle consume more power because the degree of difficulty increases due to more competition.

A reduction on a scale of the consumption of Austria or Ireland is no mean feat. The two countries are respectively thirty-ninth and sixty-sixth in terms of electricity consumption. They have every year according to the EIA almost 69 gigawatt-hours and 33 gigawatt-hours respectively to their name. So this is what Ethereum is now saves.

It is not easy to determine what the actual consumption is. Ethereum miners use a wide range of hardware, and the consumption of most of the miners is not officially known.

Governments not a fan of Proof-of-Work

Meanwhile, governments are still tough on miners. Especially in Europe, the pressure is high to keep energy prices as low as possible, but crypto miners can throw a spanner in the works. Sweden already gives priority to companies in the steel industry. A Canadian energy company no longer even wants to supply power to miners.