Cambridge study puts Ethereum near the lower end of PoS energy intensity

Cambridge study puts Ethereum near the lower end of PoS energy intensity

Cambridge estimated that Ethereum consumes 7.87 GWh annually and has the second-lowest market-value-adjusted energy intensity among the PoS networks studied.

Illustration of post-Merge Ethereum consumption. Source: Cambridge

Cambridge measured how much electricity Ethereum nodes used at the wall across 20 combinations of the network’s main software clients. It found that a typical home setup used about 18 watts, while a more powerful workstation used roughly 153 watts.

Using Ethereum’s mix of residential and professionally hosted nodes, the researchers estimated an average power draw of about 105 watts per node. Cambridge counted around 8,522 discoverable full nodes, with 64% running in cloud or enterprise facilities and 36% on residential connections.

Cambridge said Ethereum’s remaining emissions are now driven mainly by the electricity grids supplying its nodes. The study estimated that about 56.4% of the network’s electricity mix came from renewable and nuclear sources, compared with 43.6% from fossil fuels.

Background on the Merge

Ethereum moved from proof-of-work mining to proof-of-stake validation through the Merge in September 2022. The Merge replaced miners competing with one another using energy-intensive computing equipment with validators who secure the network by staking Ether.

After the Merge, energy estimates showed that the upgrade had reduced the network’s electricity use by more than 99.9%, as the mining process used to secure the blockchain was removed.

Related: Vitalik Buterin shares priorities for new 'Lean Ethereum' strawmap

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