If you thought the national debate on climate change and green energy was going to skip the crypto industry, you're very much mistaken. The White House just released a 30-page report ("Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets in the United States"), in which it highlighted electricity usage and energy consumption trends within the crypto industry. As the report made clear, the crypto industry needs to be doing its part to realize the White House goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by the year 2030.

The conclusion of the report is that some cryptos consume a significant amount of energy resources, and they are the ones that need to focus on becoming more energy-efficient. No surprises here, and Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ranked as the biggest culprit, due to the energy-intensive nature of Bitcoin mining. In contrast, proof-of-stake blockchains like Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) earned praise for being two of the most energy-efficient blockchains.

The White House report included a surprisingly nuanced discussion of the differences between proof-of-work blockchains and proof-of-stake blockchains. This included charts and graphs detailing how and why energy consumption can differ so much across blockchains. The computing power needed to mine Bitcoin is now so intensive that it is impacting local electricity grids.

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Source Fool.com