Cambridge study puts Ethereum near lower end of PoS energy intensity

CAMBRIDGE, July 18. Cambridge estimated Ethereum's annual electricity consumption at 7.87 gigawatt-hours, the release shows, placing $ETH second-lowest in market-value-adjusted energy intensity among the proof-of-stake networks the institution examined.

What Cambridge measured

The study ranked multiple proof-of-stake networks by energy intensity adjusted for market value, according to the release. Ethereum finished second from the bottom. Its energy draw per unit of market value was lower than all but one other chain in the group.

The 7.87 GWh figure is the only consumption number the summary discloses. Cambridge did not identify the other networks in the release or provide the complete ranking by name.

Reading the metric

Market-value-adjusted intensity ties a network's energy use to its market capitalization, not to transaction volume or validator count. A larger network carrying more market value will score better under this approach, all else being equal. Cambridge's summary includes no unadjusted figures, so Ethereum's standing on a per-transaction or per-validator basis falls outside what the study released.

The headline characterization of Ethereum as sitting "near the lower end" of proof-of-stake energy intensity aligns with the second-lowest ranking reported in the study summary. Those two descriptions differ in precision, and the granular figure, second place, is what the data show.