Published
1 year ago on
June 20, 2022
Blockchain has disrupted not only the traditional financial system but also international trade, commerce, and supply chain management industries with its innovative ways to maintain a secure and decentralised record of transactions and build trust among users without a trusted intermediary.
Although praised for its technological advancements, one of the technology’s flaws is its significant energy usage. Top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which are powered by blockchain technology, require a large amount of energy to function.
In a report by The Digiconomist, as of June 9, a single Bitcoin transaction was found to use 205.50 TWh, as much energy as a US household would over 75.53 days. Although Ethereum is better, a single transaction currently still uses 84.02 TWh, as much electricity as a US household would over 7.27 days.
Together, Bitcoin and Ethereum use gargantuan amounts of energy. It only makes sense that end-users and companies alike are starting to advocate for greener alternatives. Although new technology ultimately comes with growing pains, blockchain’s energy usage issue has spurred innovators to think about how blockchains can further move towards environmentally friendly practices.
The environmental impact of a blockchain is typically heavily influenced by which consensus mechanism it uses. The Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm is typically known to require a more significant amount of energy since miners need to sell their coins to pay their bills. It was created as the original consensus algorithm for blockchain and is used to confirm transactions and add new blocks to the chain for data storage. Alternatively, Proof-of-Stake (PoS) has emerged as a more environmentally friendly option and has been widely adopted.
One such newcomer to the blockchain world that is dedicated to building a blockchain that can have a lesser impact on the environment is Zetrix. The layer-1 public blockchain was designed to deliver privacy, security and scalability
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