A recent analysis by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance places Ethereum near the lower end of energy intensity among major proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains. The study estimates Ethereum’s annual electricity consumption at approximately 7.87 gigawatt-hours (GWh), making it more efficient per market value than most PoS networks evaluated.
When adjusted for market capitalization, Ethereum uses about 33 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per $1 million of market value, ranking as the second lowest in energy intensity after BNB Chain. By comparison, Solana was the most energy-intensive in the study, consuming around 13.48 GWh annually, with an energy intensity nearly nine times higher than Ethereum’s.
The comprehensive assessment offers some of the most detailed insights into Ethereum’s environmental impact since its transition from proof-of-work (PoW) mining to PoS validation through the Merge in September 2022. This upgrade eliminated the energy-heavy mining process, reducing Ethereum's power usage by more than 99.9%.
Cambridge measured the electricity draw across 20 configurations of Ethereum’s main software clients, finding typical setups ranged from 18 watts in home environments to 153 watts in professional workstations. On average, each node consumes about 105 watts, based on a network composed of roughly 8,522 full nodes, with 64% operating in cloud or enterprise data centers and 36% hosted in residential settings.
The study also highlights that over half (56.4%) of the energy powering Ethereum nodes comes from renewable and nuclear sources, contrasting with 43.6% derived from fossil fuels. This cleaner electricity mix significantly decreases the network’s carbon footprint and energy-related emissions.