The network used as much energy in a year as 15 American houses, according to the analysis.
According to a research released on Wednesday by the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI), the Tron network is one of the most ecologically friendly blockchains due to its low power consumption. The goal of the research organisation CCRI is to reduce carbon emissions from cryptocurrency initiatives.
The paper claimed that compared to other consensus methods like Bitcoin’s proof-of-work (PoW), Tron’s delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus process helped it have a lower carbon footprint. Users who stake their native TRX tokens to nodes, which verify transactions and uphold the network, are the basis of DPoS.
The Tron Foundation, which creates and supports products for the Tron blockchain, paid for the study. A issue raised by numerous crypto doubters is that CCRI tracks over 20 networks and produces data on their sustainability and total ecological impact.
PoW blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum use more than 83 million kWh and 22 million kWh of energy each hour, respectively. However, following “The Merge,” Ethereum is slated to switch to a proof-of-stake consensus process.
Comparatively, Tron used 162,868 kWh of energy year for over 2.31 billion transactions, which is nearly 99.9% less than what Bitcoin and Ethereum used. According to CCRI, this estimated Tron’s energy use to be “equivalent to the energy consumption of 15 ordinary U.S. houses.”
The need for validation is a major factor in the high energy consumption of PoW blockchains.
Users need a computer or other hardware device that is capable of solving difficult algorithmic puzzles, such as the SHA-256 hashing function for Bitcoin and the Keccak-256 hashing function for Ethereum, employing powerful machines that require a lot of energy to operate, maintain, and cool.
As a result, Polkadot, a blockchain network, was praised in a previous assessment by the CCRI as having the lowest carbon footprint, while Cardano and Solana used the least energy per transaction and per node, respectively.
PoS networks utilise so little energy, according to CCRI, that other considerations should be considered more carefully while evaluating them.
“Other variables like as decentralisation, network speed, and functionality (e.g., smart contracts) should play a critical part as choice criteria for practitioners picking a PoS blockchain protocol,” the study group added.
