Bitcoin mining hits all-time high with 54.5% sustainable energy usage

According to the Bitcoin ESG forecast, Bitcoin Mining is currently the only primary global industry powered mainly through sustainable energy.

The Bitcoin ESG Forecast has revealed that Bitcoin mining using sustainable energy has increased to a new all-time high of 54.5%, with sustainable mining rising by 3.6% overall for the calendar year 2023.

According to an article on its blog, The Bitcoin ESG Forecast analyzed data from its BEEST model and compared the sustainable energy mix of Bitcoin to other industries over the past four years using publicly available data.

Based on the data, Bitcoin mining is currently the highest user of sustainable energy (54.5%) across subsectors and has also achieved an increase in sustainable mining(+3.6%) overall for the calendar year 2023 compared to other global industries.

The Bitcoin ESG Forecast found off-grid Bitcoin miners using methane emissions. According to the research, small oil producers in Canada and the U.S. pay for permits to flare natgas, with some venting methane directly, which is harder to detect.

Related: Bitcoin miners in ‘selling mode,’ dumping $450M BTC in a day

However, some mining companies use vented methane to generate electricity for Bitcoin mining, reducing environmental impact compared to venting it into the air. This means the Bitcoin network mitigates 7.3% of all its emissions without offsets, a new all-time high and the highest level of non-offset-based emission mitigation of any industry.

According to the article, additional off-grid renewable mining, such as Tether’s expansion into hydro mining in Latin America and the discovery of more off-grid methane-mitigating mining, means that the Bitcoin network is now using more sustainable energy than ever.

After the ban on mining in China and the effective prohibition in Kazakhstan, miners predominantly moved to greener grids in North America or sustainable off-grid sites. The post states that global grids are becoming greener at 0.7% per year, resulting in a 29% improvement in emission intensity for on-grid Bitcoin miners compared to 2021.