I see news stories that will give examples of how much energy a type of technology uses (usually AI or crypto). They’ll claim very big numbers like the whole ecosystem using “as much as a small country” or one instance of use being “as much as an average home uses in a year.”
With the crypto ecosystem being so big and I’m less inclined to defend it, I haven’t thought as much about the claims. But with AI while it still has problematic aspects, it also has a lot of useful applications. When I run a single query the idea it’s the same energy as driving my car ten miles or whatever doesn’t seem to pass the smell test.
How are these numbers generated? Historically media doesn’t do great with science reporting (“a cure for cancer was just invented” etc) so just trying to get some context/perspective.
For me, the energy consumption estimates are meaningless without a comparison to alternatives. For example, the headline “2% of electricity is used for crypto” is meaningless without an honest comparison against alternatives, like energy cost of gold mining, banking institutions, and financial transaction networks.
After all, a single Google search has an ecological footprint.
I think a lot of headlines are not exactly honest or at least diligent with that side of the story.
Crypto is an alternative to none of those things. Its a ponzy scheme with extra steps.