Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies made the whole world look at blockchain technology and its immense untapped potential. However, the arrival of a revolutionary technology like blockchain did not happen without some setbacks. The search for answers to “What is green blockchain?” has led to discussions about the environmental impact of blockchain. The term ‘green blockchain’ represents a new wave of innovation that aims to reduce the environmental footprint of blockchain technology.
Many people don’t know that the Proof of Work consensus mechanism used in blockchain networks consumes huge amounts of energy. One of the best examples of such blockchain networks is Bitcoin, which relies on crypto mining to verify and add transactions to its shared ledger. How much energy could the Bitcoin blockchain possibly consume that would cause harm to the environment? Let us find out the answer in a detailed guide on green blockchain.
Unraveling the Meaning of Green Blockchain
The crypto mining process in Proof of Work consensus is a norm for verifying transactions in many blockchain networks. In this process, miners compete with each other to find solutions to mathematical problems and get the privilege to add transactions to the blockchain. The pursuit of mining rewards often undermines the substantial amounts of computational power required for mining.
A review of the fundamentals of green blockchain explained for beginners would revolve largely around this issue. With the requirement of more computational power in mining, blockchain networks will consume more energy and impose a bigger carbon footprint. The road to achieve the vision for green blockchain will involve energy-efficient consensus mechanisms, renewable energy sources and layer 2 solutions.
Energy-efficient consensus algorithms can help in reducing energy consumption required to verify transactions in a shared ledger. As a result, the blockchain will be greener as it will consume fewer resources from the environment. The switch to renewable energy sources for traditional blockchain networks will also pave the road to green blockchain. Renewable energy from solar and wind will play a major role in reducing the carbon footprint of blockchain technology.
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Is Crypto Mining Bad for the Environment?
The growing momentum of discussions around green blockchain might have had you thinking about the reasons to talk about it in the first place. Wasn’t blockchain created as a perfect alternative to traditional centralized systems? You can understand the significance of green crypto mining only when you find the setbacks created by traditional cryptocurrency mining.
Blockchain technology gained recognition for its unique design that enabled computers on a distributed peer-to-peer network to reach consensus on updating a shared ledger of transactions. The earliest blockchain networks, Bitcoin and Ethereum, adopted the Proof of Work consensus mechanism that required competition for hashing data. The winner would get the opportunity to update the shared ledger and earn a mining reward, thereby transforming mining into a lucrative earning opportunity.
As the demand for crypto mining continues growing with the arrival of NFTs, new cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, the energy consumption has become a formidable concern. Just like any other business, miners would aim to reduce their costs and they can do the same by using cheaper energy sources like fossil fuels. However, burning fossil fuels creates a lot of greenhouse gases that are harmful for the environment. At the same time, drawing power from green energy sources can also lead to taking away energy from critical facilities.
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Road for Transformation to Green Blockchain
The pitfalls for the environment with blockchain networks that consume massive amounts of energy call for immediate green blockchain solutions. Interestingly, the energy consumption problem has been troubling the crypto community for a long time. Some critics have also pointed out that the environmental footprint of blockchain does not make it worth the effort to embrace the technology. However, you can also find solutions that aim to transform blockchain completely into a green technology.
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Renewable Energy Sources
Most of the crypto community agrees to the fact that blockchain networks like Bitcoin consume more energy. At the same time, the community also understands how the Proof of Work consensus and mining make Bitcoin unique, valuable and more secure. The urgency for developing renewable energy crypto coins is a direct call to resolve the problem of higher energy consumption in crypto mining. Most of the miners choose cheap energy sources like fossil fuels to earn more profit in mining rewards and end up causing more damage to the environment.
The shift to renewable energy sources for running and maintaining mining rigs will ensure a seamless transition to green blockchain. Members of the Bitcoin community have been looking for green energy sources in East Africa and El Salvador, which indicates the urgency of green blockchain. It is also important to understand that regulations for crypto mining will play a crucial role in fostering the adoption of renewable energy sources in crypto mining. As a matter of fact, the European Union and some other countries have been trying to create guidelines to prevent crypto mining initiatives that consume more energy.
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Energy-Efficient Consensus Mechanisms
Blockchain can achieve the transition into the green technology domain with the help of energy-efficient consensus mechanisms. Why shouldn’t you try other consensus mechanisms that don’t require energy-intensive mining? You can have a green crypto app that will not consume more energy when it has an energy-efficient consensus mechanism. The best example of a consensus mechanism that consumes less energy is Proof of Stake.
The Proof of Stake consensus requires picking validators to maintain the shared ledger on behalf of the entire network. Validators are picked on the basis of the number of tokens they stake in the network, thereby removing competition. As a result, the Proof of Stake consensus can work with a minimal amount of electricity. Ethereum showed the impact of Proof of Stake protocol by switching to the consensus mechanism and reducing energy usage by 99.9%.
You can also come across examples of other energy-efficient consensus mechanisms that offer the same advantages as Proof of Stake. For instance, the Proof of History consensus mechanism of the Solana network helps in reducing energy consumption by almost 99%.
The efforts to achieve green blockchain technology also focus on layer 2 solutions. With the help of layer 2 solutions, blockchain networks can reduce network congestion and energy consumption. The examples of green blockchain explained for beginners also include references to Lightning Network for Bitcoin.
Layer 2 solutions help in taking off many transactions from the main blockchain, thereby reducing the load on the network. With a lesser load, the network will consume lesser energy while ensuring faster, secure and transparent transaction processing.
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Final Thoughts
The road to green blockchain is not far away with initiatives to make blockchain networks more energy-efficient being implemented everywhere. You can notice the shift towards green crypto mining in the case of Bitcoin. Members of the Bitcoin community have been exploring opportunities to use renewable energy sources. On top of it, some blockchain networks have changed their consensus mechanisms to reduce energy consumption. Ethereum is the ideal example you should consider to understand how consensus mechanisms can lower energy consumption by over 99%. Learn more about the different ways to leverage blockchain for promoting sustainability in the domain of technology with specialized blockchain certifications now.
