Polkadot Has Least Carbon Footprint Compared To Other Top Chains
The study found that the average US family spends around 10,600 kWh per year whereas Polkadot (DOT) consumes only about 6.6 times the power, making it the least energy-intensive network among the top chains.
“An average US household consumes about 10,600 kWh per year and therefore, the least electricity consuming network Polkadot consumes about 6.6 times the electricity and the most electricity consuming network Solana about 200 times the electricity (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2021),” the report read.
In contrast, Bitcoin (BTC) with its more energy-intensive proof-of-work network uses up to 8.6 million times of electricity while Ethereum (ETH) uses 1.6 million times of the average electricity consumption of the US household
Following Ethereum, other layer-1 protocols to consume the most electricity include SOL, Cardano (ADA), Algorand (ALGO), Avalanche (AVAX), and Tezos (XTZ).
“Algorand consumes up to the factor of 9 compared to other cryptocurrencies such as Cardano and Polkadot. Tezos is in between these two groups. It consumes up to factor 5 of the low-energy blockchains, but only about 50% of Algorand’s consumption,” the report added.
Study Conducted via Various Blockchain Metrics
While Polkadot (DOT) consumed the least electricity per year, Cardano (ADA) used the least electricity per node. The study also found that Solana (SOL) uses the least amount of electricity while conducting transactions.
In terms of the total value locked, the report found that it’s $18,454 per kilowatt-hour for Avalanche, $4,395 for Solana, and only $19.18 for Polkadot, citing data from DeFiLlama from Feb. 1.
CCRI conducted the study using various metrics such as the network’s minimum hardware requirements, electricity usage of each node, network electricity consumption, including transaction data.
