Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
So are you one of the people that believe that Bitcoin mining is a waste of energy? Ten you better be ignorant to the amount of energy consumed by Christmas lights on an annual basis, which uses more electricity than some countries.
The Energy Cost of American Christmas Lights
While December makes for the season to be jolly, the year when family and friends congregate to celebrate the conclusion of another year.
It's made up of plenty of traditions and ceremonies, from carollers singing hymns door to door, and shopping hits a fever pitch as people hit the stores for presents. According to recent studies, the average American households getting through almost over $1,000 across the holiday season.
And that's not even going into what the statistics are in conjunction with energy consumption for Christmas lights, which are far greater than most countries.
Oh yes that's right. The sparkling lights that American consumers are all too willing to sprinkle over rooftops, yards, and window panes in a bid to outperform their neighbors. How much do the American people rack up in terms of consumption? It's a grand total of 6.63 billion kilowatt hours of electricity consumption every year with reliable gusto.
We can then go ahead and put that in greater perspective. That's more than the entire national consumption of energy from a large number of developing countries every year. And that includes that likes of the populations of nations like El Salvador, which boast a total of 6.3 million and uses up to 5.35 billion kilowatt-hours every year, and the likes of Ethiopia, which has a population of over 100 million using 5.3 billion kilowatt hours annually.
With the likes of Bitcoin among other cryptocurrencies, they have been in the eye of a public storm due to it being associated with a large amount of energy consumption. And it is somewhat true that the act of mining cryptocurrencies does take on their fair share of power. How much? Around 215 kilowatt hours of energy for every bitcoin extracted. This also translates to 56 million kilowatt hours per day based on over 262,000 transactions on average.
That is a significant amount of energy, there's no question there. But while cryptocurrency mining is taking the initiative to find more sustainable sources of energy, as well as purchasing that energy which is otherwise excessively produced. And with elements like the former, cleaner energy, and a transition to the more ideal Proof of Stake system, there's no comparable action being taken when it comes to Christmas lights.
There can Only be one – Christmas Lights or Sound Money
According to the VP of Business Operations for BTC.com, Alejandro de la Torre, who is responsible for business activities for one of Bitmain's largest mining pools, talked to members of the digital press in a series of interview during Portugal's Web Summit that the consumption of energy to any capacity must be put into reasonable context.
“First of all,” he says, “mining pools are creating jobs, and secondly, we’re talking about a very important technology… that will help us people grow and be financially secure.”
So, that's a valid enough excuse for the likes of Bitcoin: there are clear growing pains before it can become well and truly efficient, all the while, it'll become more stable and create more jobs. Now with that in mind, what about the metaphorical bill that's accrued by US Christmas lights year in year out? It doesn't seem like environmentalists are in much of a hurry to get to the bottom of that mystery now are they?
The United States of America is a power-thirsty nation, and Christmas lights are otherwise inconsequential when we look at that on its own, especially since it makes up just 0.2 percent of all energy that that nation consumes.
Does Bitcoin get an undeserved bad reputation for consuming a lot of electricity? Tell us what you think!
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.