EIA: U.S. Bitcoin mining consumes as much electricity as Utah

Author: David Pan, Bloomberg; Compiler: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

• EIA stated that the electricity required by mining machines will account for at least 0.6% of total demand in 2023;

• Mining activities have raised concerns about energy costs and emissions.

Bitcoin miners in the United States consume the same amount of electricity as the entire state of Utah, according to a new analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This is considered the low point of the power consumption threshold.

Mining operations will account for 0.6% to 2.3% of the country’s total electricity demand by 2023, according to a report released Thursday.  Mining activity is causing growing concern among policymakers and grid planners about the strain it will put on the grid, energy costs and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions during periods of peak demand question.

This report in the United States stated: “The electricity demand to support cryptocurrency mining will be equivalent to the needs of more than 3 million to more than 6 million households per year.” >

Although the mining industry started in the United States a decade ago, since 2021, a number of large miners have gone public in the United States, in some of the most energy-rich states such as Texas and New York. Conduct business.

To date,EIA has identified a total of 137 mine sites in 21 states, with the majority located in Texas, Georgia, and New York. The agency conducted its calculations using data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index as well as data collected from facilities.

The report stated: " CBECI believes that  The electricity supporting Bitcoin mining will account for approximately 0.2% to 0.9% of global electricity demand in 2023.” “According to these estimates, global cryptocurrency mining use That’s about the same amount of electricity as the total electricity consumption of Greece or Australia respectively.”

Bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive process in which miners use specialized computers to verify transactions on the blockchain And get rewards in the form of tokens.

While collecting data will be difficult, the EIA said it plans to begin a mandatory investigation "focused on a systematic assessment of electricity consumption associated with cryptocurrency mining activities," the report said. Data will be collected monthly from February to July.