Anyone who is even remotely connected to the crypto world must have heard of the idea that proof-of-work blockchains are harmful to the environment with their carbon impact. It is a cliche that must not have gone unnoticed by those who are already involved in this sector. However, the reality is something different. Contrary to the rumor that has been going around for quite a long time now, the proof-of-work blockchains rather preserve the environment and not destroy it. But it is not easy to say anything with certainty because the world is a complex structure.
What does the research suggest?
Numerous studies and research have been conducted in this field and they have shown different scenarios as well. For example, research that had been conducted by Crypto Carbon Ratings (CCR) took into account six different altcoins that are known to be using the same proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, to test what is their position when it came to electricity consumption. Needless to say, the area is quite huge which is a fact that cannot go unnoticed.
The six altcoins that were considered for this research were Cardano, Polkadot, Solana, Tezos, Avalanche, and Alogrand. These six coins were put to test as per the level of electricity consumption they require each year as well as the amount of carbon each emitted each year.
How did the altcoins perform?
The results, needless to say, came out to be different for each altcoin. Some. of the coins scored well in some areas while others scored well in different areas. It was also suggested in the report after the research that it was Polkadot that required the least amount of energy per year whereas Cardano consumed the least amount of energy for each node. The same report also suggested that the altcoin Solana needed the least electricity for each transaction. However, it was Polkadot that achieved the top position in being the altcoin that emitted the least amount of carbon per year.
More about the research results
It was also stated in a report published by the CCRI that the Polkadot consumed 6.6 times more electricity than a normal household whereas Solana consumed 200 times more electricity than a normal household.
However, it is also essential to mention here that it is quite reductive to look for a coin that does not affect the environment in any way or is eco-friendly. It was not even an easy task to bring six completely different altcoins on the same platform for comparison. The research agency CCRI had to work with unclear metrics as well as conditions.
The research that was conducted took into account the following features of the altcoin:-
• Minimum hardware requirement of each of the blockchains.
• The amount of electricity used up by each node.
• The electricity consumed by each network.
• All other extra information which also includes information such as about transactions.
After taking into consideration several variables and factors, the results that cCRI reached can be considered to be one of the best estimates made in the research.
Conclusion
With time, the concern for the environment and the need to preserve it is growing and ur has given rise to various initiatives in different fields. However, in one case the care and concern for the environment even enraged the people involved with the conservation of Nature. Even though WWF UK termed their token as tokens of nature some believed that the blockchain that these tokens used did no good to the environment. They believed that no kind of blockchain can ever do any good to the environment.
