REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Dec 1(Reuters) - The Ethereum blockchain's historical greenhouse gas emissions before a major software upgrade last year were equivalent to the yearly emissions of Honduras, a University of Cambridge study showed on Friday.
From its launch in 2015 until the Merge, Ethereum's greenhouse gas emissions totalled 27.5 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), the study showed.
Its current yearly emissions are around 2.8 kilotonnes carbon dioxide equivalent, the study found - around the same as five round-trip flights from London to New York.
It is generally thought that blockchain is "a highly emitting technology," said Anna Lerner, executive director at the Ethereum Climate Platform, an organisation that seeks to use blockchain tech to accelerate climate finance.
The annual emissions of Bitcoin, the largest blockchain and cryptocurrency, are therefore roughly equivalent to those of Cambodia in 2020, according to Climate Watch.
Persons:
Dado Ruvic, Anna Lerner, Ethereum, Alexander Neumueller, Neumueller, Tom Wilson, Alexandra Hudson
Organizations:
REUTERS, University of Cambridge, Global, Climate Watch, Reuters, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson
Locations:
Honduras, Dubai, London, New York, Bitcoin, Cambodia