Research: What Eats up More Electricity — Mining Bitcoin or Video Games?

December 14, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE

What actually consumes more electricity — Bitcoin mining or video games? To answer this question, you need to compare the results of the research, sources of electricity and make rough estimates.

Recently, it is often said that a huge amount of electricity is being spent on Bitcoin mining, which negatively affects the state of the environment. Because of this, Bitcoin is subjected to harsh criticism. Researchers at Braiins, which controls the popular SlushPool mining pool, have compared the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining and the massive industry of video games.

Indeed, the amount of electricity consumed is constantly growing, but maybe it’s not just about mining? Let’s try to figure out how much electricity is spent on mining Bitcoin in comparison with such common electronic devices as game consoles and PCs.

First, let’s compare how much energy is spent on mining Bitcoin in different countries. The University of Cambridge has developed a special tool called the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), which tracks the annual energy consumption that is spent on mining this cryptocurrency. The results obtained on Bitcoin are compared with general indicators of electricity consumption in other countries. For example, in November this year, the amount of electricity spent on Bitcoin mining around the world is on par with Colombia, Venezuela and Chile, which are considered comparable consumers of electricity.

The electricity consumption for Bitcoin mining depends on the overall hash of the network and the efficiency of the mining equipment. For example, when hashing 100 EH / s with the latest ASIC miners, much less electricity is consumed than with the same hashrate, but with the 2017 ASICs.

If CBECI can be used to calculate the annual energy spent on bitcoin mining, then with regard to video games, everything is much more complicated, given the wide variety of gaming devices. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consume less electricity compared to the powerful Digital Storm Velox gaming computers, which complicates the calculations. In addition, game consoles and computers do not work around the clock, unlike Bitcoin mining equipment.

Employees at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory conducted a thorough study of how much electricity was spent on video games in California in 2016. The following parameters were taken into account: the popularity of various gaming systems, their performance and behavioral factors of the players. The researchers concluded that the higher the activity of the players, the greater the increase in electricity consumption.

Taking into account all the factors, it turned out that the amount of energy spent on video games in California in 2016 was 4.1 TW * h per year. Now we use this data to calculate indicators across the country. About 40 million people live in California, and about 327 million live in all of the USA. Considering that the behavioral factors of players throughout the USA are no different from California, multiplying 4.1 TWh per year by 327/40 gives 33.5 TWh in the year the USA spends on video games.

To calculate the global electricity consumption for video games, we use NewZoo data. The graph shows the revenue of the leading gaming industry markets for October 2017. This income is based on consumer spending excluding taxes, equipment sales, gambling profits and rates.

Suppose the US accounts for 32% of the world’s gaming revenue, it can be assumed that the same amount of energy will be spent on video games. It turns out that all over the world players consume 104.7 TWh per year.

Based on these approximate calculations, we can conclude that in November 2019 video games “ate” 46% more electricity compared to Bitcoin mining.

It is also important to understand where this electricity comes from. According to research company CoinShares, 74% of the energy spent on mining Bitcoin comes from renewable energy sources. About 50–60% of the total hashrate is generated in Sichuan during the rainy season — surplus energy is used from hydroelectric power plants. At the end of the rainy season, many miners move to another area to use alternative types of “green energy” — heat or wind.

On the other hand, according to the US Energy Information Administration, only 23% of the electricity comes from renewable sources. However, given that urban residents mostly play video games, this figure is pretty good.

According to a study by the Oak Ridge Institute of Ohio last year, Bitcoin mining consumes three times as much energy as gold mining.

Author: Marko Vidrih