The Merge upgrade, which is considered one of the most significant blockchain upgrades on Ethereum to date, reduced the power consumption of the network by 99.9% instantly.
Last September 15, the Ethereum blockchain moved from Proof of Work (PoW) to a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism in an effort to transition to a green blockchain. What followed was an immediate and sharp drop in the total power consumption of the Ethereum network, according to Cowen Telegraph.
Prior to the Mirg upgrade, in 2022, Ethereum's energy consumption ranged from 46.31 Terawatt-hours (TWh) per year to 93.98 TWh per year. The lowest energy consumption for Ethereum was recorded on December 26, 2019, at 4.75 TWh per year.
As of October 15, the day of the Ethereum Merge upgrade, Ethereum's power has decreased by more than 99.9%, and continues to maintain low power usage. As a result, the network's carbon footprint is currently 0.1 million tons of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) per year.
Translated into single Ethereum transactions, electricity consumption is as low as 0.03 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and a carbon footprint of 0.01 kg of CO2, which, according to Digital Scientist, is equivalent to the energy used when watching two hours on YouTube.
