The Energy Consumption of Blockchain Technology: Beyond Myth

Johannes Sedlmeir (), Hans Ulrich Buhl (), Gilbert Fridgen () and Robert Keller ()
Additional contact information
Johannes Sedlmeir: Project Group Business and Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT
Hans Ulrich Buhl: Project Group Business and Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT
Gilbert Fridgen: Project Group Business and Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT
Robert Keller: Project Group Business and Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT

Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, 2020, vol. 62, issue 6, No 9, 599-608

Abstract: Abstract When talking about blockchain technology in academia, business, and society, frequently generalizations are still heared about its – supposedly inherent – enormous energy consumption. This perception inevitably raises concerns about the further adoption of blockchain technology, a fact that inhibits rapid uptake of what is widely considered to be a groundbreaking and disruptive innovation. However, blockchain technology is far from homogeneous, meaning that blanket statements about its energy consumption should be reviewed with care. The article is meant to bring clarity to the topic in a holistic fashion, looking beyond claims regarding the energy consumption of Bitcoin, which have, so far, dominated the discussion.

Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Energy consumption; Distributed ledger technology; Sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (34)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12599-020-00656-x Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:binfse:v:62:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s12599-020-00656-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/12599

DOI: 10.1007/s12599-020-00656-x

Access Statistics for this article

Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK is currently edited by Martin Bichler

More articles in Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK from Springer, Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().