Converting from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus, commonly called the Merge, has fundamentally changed the way by which the Ethereum network validates transactions, adds blocks, and rewards network participants. As a result, computation intensive block mining is no longer needed, and the network’s electricity consumption, by some estimates, will be reduced by over 99.9%. This white paper outlines the four-step methodology that Metaverse Green Exchange (MVGX) uses to estimate carbon emissions associated with the electricity consumption for minting one ether (ETH) post-Merge. The methodology centres on the daily electricity consumption of an average active node on the network. It then estimates the network’s total electricity consumption and associated carbon emissions based on the total number of active nodes on the network. After accounting for the total number of ETH minted, the carbon emissions of one ETH can be obtained. Based on the data and calculations presented in this white paper, it is concluded that after the Merge, newly minted ETH on the Ethereum PoS network has an average carbon footprint of 1.64 kgCO2e/ETH.
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