According to PANews on April 29, a new study by the Cambridge Alternative Finance Center (CCAF) at the Cambridge Judge Business School found that the proportion of sustainable energy used in Bitcoin mining has increased to 52.4%, with natural gas replacing coal as the largest single energy source for Bitcoin mining. The report indicates that sustainable energy use in Bitcoin mining is 52.4%, including 9.8% nuclear energy and 42.6% renewable energy (such as hydropower and wind energy). In comparison, the total sustainable energy use was estimated at 37.6% in 2022. Natural gas has become the largest single energy source for Bitcoin mining, accounting for 38.2% (up from 25.0% in 2022), while coal usage has dropped to 8.9% (down from 36.6% in 2022).
Based on the report's data (representing 48% of global mining activities), the study estimates Bitcoin's annual electricity consumption at 138 TWh, approximately 0.5% of global total electricity consumption, with network emissions at 39.8 million tons of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e). The data further highlights North America's crucial role in digital mining, with the United States accounting for 75.4% of the Bitcoin mining activities in the report, followed by Canada at 7.1%.
