Shi, Xiaoyang; Xiao, Hang; Liu, Weifeng; Lackner, Klaus S; Buterin, Vitalik; Stocker, Thomas F (2023). Confronting the Carbon-Footprint Challenge of Blockchain. (In Press). Environmental science & technology American Chemical Society 10.1021/acs.est.2c05165
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The distributed consensus mechanism is the backbone of the rapidly developing blockchain network. Blockchain platforms consume vast amounts of electricity based on the current consensus mechanism of Proof-of-Work (PoW). Here, we point out a different consensus mechanism named Proof-of-Stake (PoS) that can eliminate the extensive energy consumption of the current PoW-based blockchain. We comprehensively elucidate the current and projected energy consumption and carbon footprint of the PoW- and PoS-based Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain platforms. The model of energy consumption of PoS-based Ethereum blockchain can lead the way toward the prediction of other PoS-based blockchain technologies in the future. With the widespread adoption of blockchain technology, if the current PoW mechanism continues to be employed, the carbon footprint of Bitcoin and Ethereum will push the global temperature above 1.5 °C in this century. However, a PoS-based blockchain can reduce the carbon footprint by 99% compared to the PoW mechanism. The small amount of carbon footprint from PoS-based blockchain could make blockchain an attractive technology in a carbon-constrained future. The study sheds light on the urgency of developing the PoS mechanism to solve the current sustainability problem of blockchain.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Climate and Environmental Physics 10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Stocker, Thomas |
ISSN: |
1520-5851 |
Publisher: |
American Chemical Society |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Pubmed Import |
Date Deposited: |
11 Jan 2023 12:33 |
Last Modified: |
11 Jan 2023 23:23 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1021/acs.est.2c05165 |
PubMed ID: |
36608262 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
CO2 emission Proof-of-Stake mechanism blockchain climate change energy consumption |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/177010 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/177010 |
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