ETH 2.0 began to take shape under the premise that it would provide many improvements with respect to the current problems of the Ethereum network. Recently, new estimates came out in a study by the Ethereum Foundation that indicate that ETH 2.0 will drastically reduce the demand for energy from the grid. Below we show you the details.
According to a recent estimate by researcher Carl Beekhuizen, ETH 2.0 will consume 99% less energy than the current Ethereum blockchain. Yes, as you read, he said 99%.
What does the Ethereum Foundation study say about ETH 2.0?
According to the expert, with ETH 2.0, energy savings would be generated thanks to the transition from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake one.
“According to my (very conservative) calculations, Ethereum will see a reduction of more than ~99.95% in energy use after the merger,” Beekhuizen wrote in its published study report. Considering the total number of validators, unique addresses, and the average energy consumed by the hardware, the resulting figure was significantly lower than Ethereum’s current energy demand.
“In total, Ethereum’s Proof of Stake therefore consumes something on the order of 2.62 megawatts. This is not on the scale of countries, provinces or even cities, but on the scale of a small city (about 2,100 American households).” As Beekhuizen wrote.
What is the status of the development of this update?
While the premise of better energy use thanks to the ETH 2.0 update is hopeful, there is still time for it to be fully consolidated. The ambitious multi-year upgrade will change the network to a greener consensus mechanism. This is the model called proof of stake (PoS).
In case you’re wondering why it’s greener, we’ll explain it below. First, proof of stake is based on users blocking Ethereum to support the production of new blocks. This, unlike the PoW model, which uses energy-intensive mining equipment, is much more environmentally friendly.
In terms of energy required per transaction, ETH 2.0 uses the equivalent of “about 20 minutes of television,” he added. By comparison, a transaction on Ethereum PoW requires the same amount of electricity that can be used to power a house for 2.8 days.
Although ETH 2.0 is in preliminary stages, users have already blocked over US $ 400 million in tokens. Still, Beekhuizen concluded that”Ethereum’s energy-hungry days are numbered, and I hope that’s true for the rest of the industry as well.”
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