Bitcoin is finally proving naysayers wrong about its long-running environmental allegations.
A new report from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) says 52.4% of all bitcoin mining is now powered by green energy, a huge win for the scarce digital money.
This is a big deal because the industry has proven that it is taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint—a long-standing criticism of Bitcoin.
The Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report, published by researchers at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, shows more than half of Bitcoin’s energy is now coming from clean sources.
The study says 42.6% is from renewables like hydro and wind, and 9.8% from nuclear.
Related: 10 Facts Why Nuclear Is Not Dangerous Anymore
That’s up from 37.6% in 2022. As the report says:
“The move toward clean energy is no longer a theoretical debate—miners are actively making the switch, and it’s starting to show in the data.”
Natural gas has also overtaken coal as the biggest single source of energy for bitcoin mining with a 38.2% allocation, while coal is down to 8.9% from 36.6% in 2022.
While overall energy use is up, with annual electricity consumption rising to 138 terawatt-hours (TWh)—about 0.5% of global electricity use—greenhouse gas emissions are being kept in check.
The network’s total carbon emissions are estimated at 39.8 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent, about 0.08% of total global emissions.
This shift is driven by a mix of environmental pressure, energy costs and technology upgrades.
Another finding is that the U.S. has become the dominant player in global bitcoin mining.
According to the report, the U.S. accounts for 75.4% of reported bitcoin mining activity, and Canada for 7.1%. Together, North America is home to over 80% of all green bitcoin mining.
New mining operations are popping up in regions with access to renewable energy, like South America, the Middle East and parts of Central America and Southeast Asia where hydropower and volcanic energy are harnessed.
The report doesn’t just look at energy sources.
It also looks at operational changes in the mining industry. Efficiency is improving: mining hardware now uses 28.2 joules per terahash, 24% better than last year.
The industry is also getting greener in other ways. 86.9% of retired mining hardware is being repurposed or recycled, with an estimated electronic waste of 2.3 kilotonnes.
Mining companies are also testing waste heat recovery, gas flaring mitigation and demand response programs to better integrate with power grids.
70.8% of mining companies say they are actively working on climate mitigation.
Despite this progress, bitcoin miners still have big economic problems. Electricity makes up over 80% of their costs and volatile energy prices and regulatory uncertainty are major headaches.
To adapt, many are diversifying, entering new markets or exploring other services like high-performance computing for AI workloads.
The traditional revenue model—heavily dependent on bitcoin rewards—is under pressure especially with Bitcoin halving events cutting mining profits in half every four years.
This shift to greener mining may also impact public perception and corporate adoption. In 2021, Elon Musk stopped accepting bitcoin at Tesla citing environmental concerns.
He later said he might reconsider if the industry used at least 50% renewable energy. Now that the threshold has been met, some are wondering if Musk or other companies will change their stance.
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