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RE: How much energy does it take to mine one Bitcoin? (March 2018)

in #bitcoin7 years ago

I want just to point out a mistake; the measurement unit for energy is kWh. Energy is Power x time, therefore kWh not kW/h. If you calculate energy over a period of time, you might also see it like a kWh/yr.
PS. Self voted to get some visibility.

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Thank you for pointing this out. You're right!
I have edited my post.

More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt_hour

The notation "kW/h" is not a correct symbol for kilowatt hour, as it denotes kilowatt per hour instead.

Corect! kilowatt per hour!

Ha ha! Wrong, @kennyroy! "kilowatt hour", not "per hour" as that would mean division by time.

Am I? Hahaha... I hate this math problem! Hahaha... But I like physics?! LOL

Since this is where we're talking about mistakes, I hope you don't mind me adding something to the discussion: From a mining perspective, I agree that this is the amount of energy required to create a Bitcoin. Unfortunately, the conclusion doesn't account for the fact, that the energy is primarily used to secure the network and that creation of a Bitcoin is just an incentive. In other words: Mining primarily secures the network, the computational power needed to create the block reward/Bitcoins is minimal and adds almost no additional energy requirement. Which is why, although the calculation is correct and can be applied to mining, I think it's delicate to use it in a general context. Although the energy is used for more than just creating Bitcoin(it's used to secure the network), it still leaves us with the question of whether or not the amount of energy invested is justified.