A Review on the Minimization of Energy Consumption in Blockchain Technology

Abstract

Blockchain is considered one of the most innovative technologies and applied across various fields with applications in, for example, education, business, and many more. First introduced as the technology that underlies Bitcoin, blockchain has since evolved to an important means of safekeeping digital information without involving intermediaries. With growing popularity among businesses, there are rising concerns about environmental impacts, particularly energy usage. Blockchain is known for extremely high energy consumption because of the agreement methodologies applied, specifically Proof of Work(PoW). The paper addresses blockchain technology, namely the various algorithms generated and their influence on the environment. It also looks into emerging concepts and strategies in reducing the energy impact of blockchain technology, including moving to Proof of Stake (PoS), hybrid consensus approaches, and exploiting renewable energy sources.