A new preprint was conducted in collaboration with researchers from Radboud University, University of California Berkley and Open Universiteit. It found that the majority of the literature on blockchain energy use, both academic and everyday, “lacks scientific rigor typical of a mature scientific field.” This report examined 128 scientific and open source studies on carbon emissions from blockchains like Bitcoin.
Researchers discovered that 34% of studies didn’t even have a research design. 43% of studies didn’t share data and 67% didn’t share source code. 79% of studies did not discuss the reliability of external data.
Researchers discovered several notable flaws in studies through their analysis. Researchers discovered several notable flaws in studies on blockchain energy. First, most blockchain energy studies cite and draw their conclusions from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. The source however states that it captures only 32% to 37% computing power.
Researchers discovered several notable flaws in studies through their analysis. Researchers discovered several notable flaws in studies on blockchain energy. First, most blockchain energy studies cite data and draw their conclusions from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. The source states however that it captures only 32%-37% of the computing power on the network.
Second, it is questionable whether electricity costs were used in these studies. Researchers discovered that many studies did not make clear assumptions about the cost of electricity used in cryptocurrency mining. There is also a lot of uncertainty in the studies about power usage effectiveness.
Researchers also confirmed the legitimacy of claims about blockchain carbon emissions. They found that earlier investigators had simply extrapolated carbon emission data without any empirical evidence from 2014. This was then applied to 2019, 2021, 2015, and all the way to 2020.
This report calls for discussion on the reliability of models that assess the environmental impact of blockchains. When it comes to assessing blockchains’ carbon footprint, the crypto community is still divided. Miami mayor Francis Suarez claims that 90% of the energy used in Bitcoin mining is generated from dirty energy. Others argue that less than 0.08 of world’s carbon dioxide is produced by the network.
