Recently, there has been considerable focus on Bitcoin's alarming environmental effect. Although efforts are being made to reduce the cryptocurrency's carbon footprint, it is critical to understand why cryptocurrencies consume so much energy?

The Elrond Network, a new wave of blockchain technology, has launched a new trend in the industry.

Find out more by reading the full article.

What is the reason for the high energy consumption of cryptocurrencies?

Did you know that the "mining" process that creates bitcoin uses more energy than Serbia, according to Digiconomist?

Bitcoin mining is accomplished by solving cryptographic problems, also known as Proof of Work (PoW).

The miner who finds the answer first earns a Bitcoin reward.

While the race to find a solution is resource-intensive and requires a lot of energy, it consumes a lot of energy as well.

Bitcoin mining now consumes 58.93 TWh per year.

More significant is Bitcoin's carbon impact. The Bitcoin network emits 22 megatons of CO2 per year due to its energy consumption.

Carbon footprints of metropolises like Kansas City may be compared to this one.

What are the steps to go green with crypto?

The most well-known cryptocurrency employing PoW is Bitcoin, but it is far from the only one. Several cryptos employ different kinds of PoW.

Ethereum, one of the three most popular cryptos, uses a PoW algorithm.

While Bitcoin alone consumes a lot of power, if other PoW cryptos gain popularity, the situation might worsen much faster.

Despite the fact that potential solutions range from theoretical to practical, the bitcoin community is aware of the problem.

However, here are some solutions that can be implemented to fix this problem:

1. Use an alternative consensus algorithm

Given the abundance of various consensus algorithms, let's examine some of the most efficient ones.

Proof of Authority is an alternative to Proof of Work.

To validate new blocks in the network, every validating node must expose its true identity.

Additionally, it is a reputation-based consensus method that does not rely on intense mining. It is the least energy-consuming of the consensus methods.

2. Develop more energy-efficient blockchains

There are a variety of approaches that can be used to produce more energy-efficient blockchains.

Energy efficiency simply means that we can transmit and complete more transactions while using the same amount of energy or less

3. Explore alternatives to mining that are more environmentally friendly

Sustainable mining solutions come in many forms. Solar power, for example, may be used to mine bitcoins in areas with abundant sunshine, such as Texas.

Solar energy is often too large for the grid to manage, so it must be discarded.

Elrond Network: The First Carbon Negative European Blockchain

Elrond is the first carbon-negative European blockchain, ushering in a revolutionary era of sustainable innovation by European climate policy, as well as a new age of highly scalable, energy-efficient blockchain technology.

Elrond has achieved carbon neutrality by offsetting more CO2 emissions than it can account for.

Elrond's current capacity of 15,000 transactions per second, which can be expanded to 100,000 TPS, can result in a 1000-fold increase in throughput and execution speed, while the energy required to perform a transaction can be reduced by up to 6 million times.

Offset's sustainability experts analyzed the Elrond blockchain's carbon footprint, measuring the energy consumption of over 5,000 servers throughout 30 countries on six continents. They also measured the network that connects them, as well as the additional impact of product development and operations.

Elrond reported 6M kg CO2 footprint carbon units, corresponding to 7.4M kg CO2, resulting in a 25% impact on the environment.

With the first in a series of investments in certified green initiatives, the network has become carbon-negative.

The environmental damage sustained by the existing financial system and most blockchain implementations may ultimately have a detrimental effect over time.

Elrond's carbon-negative actions, on the other hand, open up a whole new horizon.

It has the potential to provide a strong and sustainable basis for development, as well as one that will protect the planet for which it makes progress.

Come join the eco-friendly blockchain revolution:

Maiar - Elrond's Network Official Wallet