At 112 terawatt-hours a year, Ethereum uses more power than the Netherlands and more than the Philippines or Pakistan, according to Digiconomist. A single Ethereum transaction equals the electricity usage of an ordinary American family for more than nine days. The energy used by 1,50,000 Visa card transactions is the same as the energy used by a single Ethereum transaction. It’s considerably greater for Bitcoin, at 137 terawatt-hours each year.
As a result, Mozilla will only accept cryptocurrencies using a ‘proof-of-stake’ algorithm. Solana, Cardano, and Polkadot are all prominent proof-of-stake (PoS) cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency mining is restricted to a small number of “validators” or “miners.” As a result, less processing power is needed. Reduces energy consumption greatly by not requiring the use of high-tech machinery.
Because of Mozilla’s dedication to the environment, some choices have been made. It was Mozilla’s goal to surpass the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of net zero emissions by 2021 by considerably reducing our greenhouse gas footprint each year.
“As part of our climate obligations, we also agreed to help develop, design, and enhance goods from a sustainability standpoint. We think Mozilla can play a good role in the market by pushing those cryptocurrencies that we accept to be open and honest about their energy use.” the company said in a blog post.
An examination of the environmental effect of cryptocurrencies and whether or not Mozilla should accept contributions in cryptocurrency was announced by Mozilla in January, and the ability to give bitcoin was halted during that evaluation.
It’s also due to undergo an enormous overhaul that will significantly reduce the amount of energy it consumes. Changes in the Proof-of-stake mechanism will be implemented by Ethereum’s developers. However, the exact date of the switchover is unknown at this time, as Ethereum is still using the PoW method.
Meanwhile, Blockstream and Jack Dorsey’s Bitcoin development outfit Block Inc have announced that they would work together to establish an open-source and solar-powered bitcoin mining facility in the United States.