The estimates, based in economics, put the minimum current usage of the bitcoin network at 2.55 gigawatts, which means it uses almost as much electricity as Ireland. A single transaction uses as much electricity as an average household in the Netherlands uses in a month. By the end of this year, he predicts the network could be using as much as 7.7 gigawattsas much as Austria and 0.5% of the worlds total consumption.
https://www.livemint.com/Money/3wU3b1IuMYZTl47zYkkcmN/Bitcoin-to-use-05-of-worlds-electricity-by-end-of-2018.htmlWith mining facilities looking to be more and more electrically efficient with the coming years, I feel they will be pushing our electrical technology to tiers that will help us on a global scale.
mark my words, the world will blame you and bitcoin for poverty and economic issues, the competing altcoins will blame you for poverty, local officials (to improve trust in their communal currency) will channel the hatred and anger of their poor on bitcoin and similar altcoins that just waste electricity or how i call them the "propaganda coins" bitcoin will be as much hated as it was initially supported.
i wrote a rump
article about the inevitable consequences of this.