Ethereum More Energy Efficient than Solana According to Cambridge

An exclusive study conducted by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge has redefined the environmental hierarchy of crypto blockchains. It shows that Ethereum significantly outperforms Solana in terms of energy intensity relative to its market value. A true revolution for the crypto ecosystem! Figures, methodology, and complete analysis in the following paragraphs.

In Brief

• Ethereum consumes about 7.87 GWh of electricity per year, with a continuous power of 0.90 megawatts.
• Its energy intensity is the second lowest in the PoS panel studied by Cambridge, behind BNB Chain.
• Solana shows the highest absolute consumption (13.48 GWh/year) and an intensity 8.5 times greater than that of Ethereum.
• The Merge reduced Ethereum's continuous electricity demand from 2.4 GW to 0.90 MW, a decrease of over 99.9%.

An Annual Electricity Consumption of 7.87 GWh for Ethereum According to Cambridge {#h-an-annual-electricity-consumption-of-7-87-gwh-for-ethereum-according-to-cambridge}

The Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance has just published a report titled << Ethereum After the Merge -- A Change in Power >>. The document indicates that the overall annual electricity consumption of Ethereum is now approximately 7.87 gigawatt-hours (GWh). This corresponds to a continuous power demand of barely 0.90 megawatts (MW). This keeps the crypto network more than 99.9% below its initial benchmark of 2.4 gigawatts (GW).

To achieve these precise data, Cambridge researchers audited the overall physical structure of the Ethereum network using a bottom-up approach. More concretely, they directly tested the electricity consumption of 20 combinations of client software used by nodes on two types of hardware.

Results:

• A typical residential setup consumes a median value of 18 watts.
• A professional workstation rises to 153 watts.

Results of a study conducted by the University of Cambridge on the energy efficiency of Ethereum (Source: Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance)

By weighting these results by the actual distribution of nodes, Cambridge obtains an average consumption of about 105 watts per node.

The study identifies 8,522 identifiable full nodes:

• 36% operate on residential connections;
• 64% in cloud or enterprise infrastructures.

The United States hosts 31% of these nodes, followed by Germany (16%), Finland (8%), and France (6%). These four countries thus concentrate nearly 62% of the node network measured by Cambridge.
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Ethereum Outperforms Solana in Terms of Energy Intensity {#h-ethereum-outperforms-solana-in-terms-of-energy-intensity}

Certainly, Ethereum uses more electricity than most small PoS networks due to the vastness of its validator pool. However, when adjusting electricity consumption to market value, Ethereum's efficiency becomes undeniable.

According to a study report from the University of Cambridge, the crypto network consumes only 33 kilowatt-hours (kWh) for every million dollars of market capitalization. It ranks as the second most energy-efficient blockchain in the world behind BNB Chain.

In contrast, Solana records the highest absolute consumption among the studied PoS networks, with approximately 13.48 GWh per year. Its energy intensity peaks at 283 kWh per million dollars of market capitalization.

This ratio demonstrates that Solana is about 8.5 times more energy-hungry than Ethereum to secure an equivalent economic value. This dispels the common belief that Solana's throughput performance guarantees greater efficiency than the historical architecture of Ethereum.

All crypto networks included in the Cambridge comparison consume about 38 GWh cumulatively over the studied period. Other blockchains fall between 3.6 and 5.1 GWh. This is notably the case for:

• NEAR;
• Tron;
• TON.

Cardano and BNB Chain, on the other hand, remain below the gigawatt-hour mark.

Cambridge does clarify an important point: the study does not claim that Ethereum consumes the least electricity in absolute terms.

Ethereum: A Carbon Footprint Now Linked to the Electric Mix

The annual carbon footprint of Ethereum amounts to only 2.37 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (ktCO₂e). This represents a drastic reduction of 99.98% compared to the Proof-of-Work era. The climate impact of the network now equals the annual carbon footprint of 900 British households.

According to studies conducted by Cambridge researchers, 39.4% of the electricity consumed by the Ethereum network comes from renewable sources and 17% from nuclear. This results in a total of 56.4% from low-carbon sources. The remaining 43.6% comes from fossil fuels, with natural gas alone accounting for 27.7% of the mix.

Alexander Neumüller, research lead at Cambridge's energy program, summarizes this shift in one sentence:

Electricity is no longer the price of security under PoS.

However, Cambridge emphasizes an important point: no transaction-based estimates have been made. The reason is that about 92% of transactions in the Ethereum ecosystem are now settled on layer 2 networks, making the calculation incomplete.

Another clarification: electricity is no longer the variable adjusting the cost of security. The residual ecological footprint therefore depends exclusively on the decarbonization of the national electrical networks hosting the nodes. As the energy transition progresses in major host countries, Ethereum's overall environmental footprint is structurally set to continuously decrease over the coming years.

Ethereum After The Merge: A Confirmed but Nuanced Transformation

The Merge on September 15, 2022, remains undoubtedly the turning point in this story. By definitively abandoning Proof-of-Work, the Ethereum network achieved an unprecedented technical feat: modifying its engine mid-flight.

The Cambridge study demonstrates that this transition has contracted Ethereum's power demand by 3.5 orders of magnitude.

Decoding: if Ethereum's electricity consumption before the upgrade was comparable to the height of the Statue of Liberty, the post-Merge network now represents nothing more than a simple << golf ball placed at its base >>. A striking metaphor that illustrates the immediate collapse of energy needs!

But that's not all! By replacing miners with validators staking Ether, Ethereum has also reduced its continuous electricity demand from 2.4 gigawatts to 0.90 megawatts. A drop of over 99.9%. This structural change explains why Ethereum's energy consumption remains a favored point of comparison against other proof-of-stake networks.

According to researchers from the University of Cambridge, a lighter verification process could reduce the material needs of future nodes. However, broader participation in the network could negate these gains. The report thus treats future demand as an unknown rather than a guaranteed downward trajectory.

In any case, the Cambridge study confirms Ethereum's ecological success following its technological shift. By surpassing Solana in terms of energy intensity, the crypto network demonstrates its ability to combine economic power with environmental responsibility. This solidifies its hegemony among institutional investors!