“I don’t know. I don’t get it. It uses too much energy.”
“Crypto is a Ponzi scheme, and I won’t be fooled.”
“NFTs use blockchain tech. NFTs are bad for the environment.”
Sentiments like this are frequent on social media. One person makes a statement, and others pile on, making endless claims about how blockchain technology is bad for the environment, so everyone should ignore it.
The through line here is that these commenters have no idea how Web3 technology works, what benefits it provides, or how it can solve problems and bring communities together. The majority of the population doesn’t understand the power that’s quietly being built while they go about their daily lives.
In a recent study, over half of the people surveyed in the U.S. said they’d never heard of Web3 technology.
Critics wield that energy consumption argument liberally without working to educate themselves on the Web3 network.
The upcoming Ethereum merge may shed some light on blockchain technology for those still left in the dark; the merge will unequivocally reduce energy consumption.
The Merge is Coming, and Energy Reduction Will be Massive
Ethereum 2.0 will roll out this year. It will be here soon: recent estimates have a target date of September 15, 2022. The company launched its Beacon Chain in November 2020 and has been testing proof-of-stake (PoS) for close to two years. This chain has been running parallel to Ethereum’s Mainnet, the proof-of-work (PoW) chain.
After Ethereum has successfully merged from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, the company projects an energy reduction of up to 99.95%. Staking will be two thousand times more efficient than mining. After the merge, ETH and ETH 2 will become a single token.
“At the moment of the merge, Ethereum’s proof-of-work mining will be switched off, proof-of-stake consensus will take over, and the energy consumed by the network will drop to <0.05% of its pre-merge amount.” – Ethereum website.
That’s the equivalent of the cost of running a laptop for each node on the network.
Perspective is critical in looking at energy consumption. Even before the Merge takes place, the Ethereum blockchain uses less energy than Youtube. “People consumed 45 times more energy watching Gangnam Style in 2019 than proof-of-stake Ethereum will use in a year,” the company states.
(photo credit: Ethereum website)
Why This Matters
Using energy more efficiently is the fastest way to save money and reduce greenhouse gas.
The Merge is the most significant upgrade in the history of Ethereum. Once the merge is complete, Ethereum will be over 17,000 times more efficient than Bitcoin — an impressive win for the planet, a massive victory for the company.
The Ethereum network is host to many regenerative finance (ReFi) communities. ReFi works by using DeFi to build financial applications that positively affect the environment. ReFi is part of a larger “solarpunk” movement. The solarpunk community imagines a world where the climate crisis is being approached with kindness, goodwill, and adaptive ingenuity.
“After The Merge, the technology and philosophy of Ethereum will finally reconcile, and Ethereum should become an environmentally-positive technology.” – Ethereum website.
The Merge will inevitably soften critical opinions around the environmental impact of blockchain technology, opening the door for increased innovation in Web3. It is possible to use tech for good and place the power back to the hands of the community.
The solarpunk movement has already proved this to be possible. This philosophy will only continue to gain momentum. The Reddit solarpunk group has over 96,000 members. The group envisions a world where engineering, style, technology, and social justice work harmoniously with the surrounding ecology.
Ethereum will become home to many more groups like this after the merge takes place and more people will come to understand that the power to do good lies at their fingertips.
About Kit
Kit Campoy is a former retail professional turned freelance writer. She writes about Leadership, Retail, and Web3. Contact Kit for your content needs.