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.
Interesting stats being posted all over the web, a quick google search tells me;
- The Annualized annual cost of mining bitcoin is roughly $3,656,073,069 & revenue is $4,949,099,234 [1]
- Bitcoin uses 1.5% of the total US energy/electricity consumption [2]
- Bitcoin annually is equivalent to the energy needed to provide 53.2 percent of the Netherlands' annual energy needs. [3]
Now, I personally think that we will need to find a more green way to mine, perhaps using this much electricity may not be sustainable at some point as the hash-rate continues to rise and more miners will start to enter the arena.
Sources:
[1]
https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption[2]
https://companycompare.co.uk/bitcoin-electricity-cost/[3]
https://www.statista.com/statistics/881522/bitcoin-energy-consumption-relative-to-select-countries/