Share of power source in cryptocurrency hashing facilities 2020, by type

With the rising use of cryptocurrency worldwide, what is unknown to many is the amount of energy that goes into mining cryptos. The majority of cryptocurrency hashers' total energy consumption was from renewables in 2020. The leading power source in hashing facilities globally was hydroelectricity at 62 percent that year, followed by coal and natural gas.

How does hashing work?

Hashing facilities have been set up around the world to reap the benefits of hashing. When these facilities are built, they update the ledgers of current transactions happening in real-time, and the system rewards the quickest completions with fractions of bitcoin. These facilities use vast amounts of energy, and resource utilization is part of an extensive discussion regarding climate change. Not all countries worldwide have equal energy sources and energy prices; due to this, some countries dominate the bitcoin mining industry and have very high hash rates.

The future of crypto mining

As hashing is still a relatively new venture globally, there is still time for this industry to be entirely powered by renewable energy sources. Cryptocurrency, in general, is still on the rise, and it can be seen in the amount of crypto traded worldwide. The relative novelty of this sector can be seen by the numerous and distributed sources of energy currently used in hashing facilities.