Cambridge said Ethereum uses about 7.87 GWh a year after the Merge, with electricity use down more than 99.9% and market-value-adjusted energy intensity among the lowest of the proof-of-stake networks studied.
Ethereum reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 99% after switching to proof-of-stake, according to a study from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. Cambridge estimated the network now uses about 7.87 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually after the Merge in September 2022, cutting electricity use by more than 99.9% from its proof-of-work era. The report said Ethereum’s electricity consumption fell to less than one-30,000th of the banking system and placed the network near the low end of energy intensity among major proof-of-stake blockchains, at roughly 33 kilowatt-hours per $1 million of market value, second only to BNB Chain in the group assessed.