Cambridge study puts Ethereum near lower end of PoS energy intensityCambridge estimated that Ethereum consumes 7.87 GWh annually and has the second-lowest market-value-adjusted energy intensity among the proof-of-stake networks studied.
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A recent study by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance evaluated Ethereum’s energy consumption following its transition to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus in September 2022. The research estimated that Ethereum consumes about 7.87 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually. When adjusting energy use relative to market value, the network requires approximately 33 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per $1 million, placing it near the lower end of energy intensity among major PoS blockchains, second only to BNB Chain.
Despite the relatively low energy intensity, Ethereum still uses more electricity overall than most competing PoS networks, with Solana leading the pack at about 13.48 GWh per year. Solana’s energy intensity is much higher, at roughly 283 kWh per $1 million of market value—about 8.5 times that of Ethereum. Collectively, the PoS networks examined consume around 38 GWh per year, making Ethereum a significant player in terms of total electricity draw despite its higher market capitalization.
The study conducted detailed measurements of node power consumption, finding that Ethereum nodes draw around 105 watts on average. Around 64% of these nodes run in cloud or enterprise data centers, while 36% operate on residential connections. Additionally, the grid supplying energy to Ethereum nodes is almost balanced between clean and fossil-fuel sources, with 56.4% coming from renewable and nuclear energy and 43.6% from fossil fuels.
The findings highlight how Ethereum’s post-Merge environmental impact compares within the blockchain ecosystem and reinforce that its energy use has drastically declined—by more than 99.9%—following the removal of proof-of-work mining. These insights are valuable for policymakers, investors, and the broader community as they assess blockchain sustainability and the future development of less energy-intensive networks.