current annual energy consumption Of the PoW blockchain, Ethereum, is delivered at over 82.1 TWh, which is equivalent to an entire country with over 19 million residents. The main reason for the high energy consumption of PoW blockchains is their verification requirements.
Proof-of-work protocols often require high levels of energy consumption to keep the system secure and running.
By switching to a proof-of-stake consensus layer, #ethereum The network aims to reduce the energy consumption of the blockchain by 99.95%. pic.twitter.com/VpjzfrLwQC
– Binance[@binance] 27 August 2022
Users need a computer or hardware device that can solve difficult algorithmic challenges, such as the KKK-256 with Ethereum, requiring powerful processors to run, maintain, and validate PoW networks. Use a lot of power to cool down.
Ethereum software engineers have been working for years to move the blockchain to a proof-of-stake consensus, which uses a completely different method to secure the network and also solves the problem of carbon emissions.
The cryptocurrency industry was in dire need of change after a setback caused by the high energy consumption of two of the most important PoW blockchains, Bitcoin and Ethereum. In May 2021, Tesla abandoned bitcoin payments for its cars based on energy consumption.
Since its inception, users and developers of the second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, have struggled to reduce their carbon footprint.
Now, several recent breakthroughs finally enable the Ethereum network to drastically cut energy usage. The switch to Merge, Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus method, is expected to reduce the energy use of the blockchain by 99.95%.
ethereum merge timeline
On September 6th, the Bellatrix upgrade will take effect on Beacon Chain. The remaining phases of the merge process will be initiated by this upgrade. Activation, expected to occur on the Beacon chain in epoch 144896, is scheduled for September 6 at approximately 11:34:47 UTC.
After that, the Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) figure that causes the merge is 58,750,000,000,000,000,000,000. TTD is expected to be received between September 10 and September 20. As previously reported by U.Today, the Ethereum developers mentioned that they are aiming for September 15 to 16.
During this time, the difficulty level is projected to rise to the point where proof-of-work crypto mining will eventually become impossible. When the TTD reaches 58,750,000,000,000,000,000, the network will combine its execution layer with the new consensus layer, resulting in a “merge”.