Ethereum consumes only 7.87 GWh per year after The Merge

The power consumption of Ethereum has dropped spectacularly after The Merge. This is evident from a new report by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF). The network now consumes only about 7.87 GWh per year, a decrease of more than 99.9% compared to the situation before the transition to proof of stake. The Ethereum price is currently at $1.800.

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Less power than the British Museum

To put the scale of this consumption into perspective: 7.87 GWh per year is less than half of what the British Museum consumes annually. That museum has an annual power consumption of approximately 16.18 GWh. Expressed as continuous power, the Ethereum network now requires only about 0.90 MW, whereas before The Merge it was around 2.4 GW. That was comparable to the power consumption of a small country at the time.

CO₂ emissions are also falling sharply. The CCAF estimates annual emissions at around 2.37 kilotonnes of CO₂ equivalent, a decrease of approximately 99.98%. The report is based on an infrastructure survey of about 8,522 nodes.

US and Europe dominate node distribution

The Cambridge report further shows that the United States, Germany, Finland and France together host approximately 62% of all Ethereum full nodes. In terms of hosting providers, Hetzner, Amazon Web Services and OVH together account for around 40% of all nodes. This means that a relatively small number of commercial parties play a major role in the network’s infrastructure.

Regarding the energy mix, the report indicates that 56.4% of the electricity consumed by the network comes from renewable sources. The researchers also conclude that Ethereum’s environmental footprint these days is primarily determined by the carbon intensity of local power grids, rather than by the consensus mechanism itself. This is a significant shift that demonstrates how profoundly The Merge has changed the network’s profile.