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Tezos Excels As An Energy-Efficient Blockchain According To New PWC Report

The PWC Report

  • Tezos, with over 50 million transactions in 2021, had an average carbon footprint of 17 world citizens.

  • Tezos network’s annual energy consumption is estimated at 0.001 TWh — the network represents approximately 2.4E-4 g CO2 eq. per unit of gas and 2.5 g CO2 eq. per transaction.

  • With a similar number of bakers and a larger service offer in 2021 than in 2020, the impact of the Tezos blockchain for each transaction appears to lower over time — Tezos is becoming more efficient with energy consumption as the number of transactions increases.

Tezos, an energy-efficient and self-upgradable Proof of Stake blockchain, released today the carbon footprint of its protocol.

Tezos Energy Consumption at a glance: 

  • Average energy footprint of 17 world citizens. 

  • Tezos consumes approximately 2.4E-4 g CO2 eq. per unit of gas 

  • Tezos consumes approximately 2.5 g CO2 eq. per transaction.

  • Annual energy consumption is estimated at 0.001 TWh 

The low carbon footprint of Tezos means developers and users can prioritize innovation without compromising sustainability. As a platform designed to evolve through its on-chain governance mechanism, the efficiency of Tezos is not by accident, but by design.

The Tezos blockchain has increased in energy efficiency on a per transaction basis by at least 70%, with the estimated electricity requirement per transaction being less than 30% in 2021 than what it was in 2020.

The ability to evolve through upgrades means that as transactions continue to grow on Tezos, its energy consumption will continue to decrease, something no other blockchain is able to accomplish. 

In accordance with the requirements of ISO 14040 and 14044 standards, the Tezos Life Cycle Assessment (“LCA”) – conducted by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) Advisory SAS – a French member firm of the PwC network of member firms – (“PwC”) looked at the energy consumption and carbon footprint of nodes on the Tezos network and was subject to a critical review by an independent expert hired by Nomadic Labs.

The LCA findings should be read in conjunction with the limitations and disclaimers outlined in the report (full report available here) and notably, the limits relating to the scope studied, data collection and available life cycle inventories in existing databases.

Most recently, Tezos has been selected as the blockchain of choice by Art Basel Miami Beach for the award-winning Tezos Ecosystem Exhibition, Red Bull Racing Honda, and McLaren Racing for their NFT collectible platforms, and EVE Online for their integration of NFTs into the legacy MMORPG video game.

The Tezos network has grown considerably as NFTs, DeFi, and other blockchains use cases have attracted mainstream attention. The LCA focused on three functional units related to running a node; making a single transaction; and consuming one gas unit for a smart contract. To consider the increase in the Tezos’ adoption rate in 2021, the year 2020, and the period January to mid-November 2021 extrapolated to one year were studied.

The LCA findings should be read in conjunction with the limitations and disclaimers outlined in the report and notably, the limits relating to the scope studied, data collection, and available life cycle inventories in existing databases.

The report can be downloaded here.