Dogecoin Becomes Only Memecoin To Reduce Carbon Emissions by 25%

Dogecoin Annual Carbon Emissions Decline by 25% with Help from Elon Musk. The crypto asset recorded 1,063 tons of carbon emissions last year. 

Dogecoin’s annual Carbon emissions declined by about 25% in 2022 following collaborative efforts from chain developers and billionaire Elon Musk. The blockchain emitted 1,063 tons of CO2 in 2022, marking a 25% reduction from the 1,423 tons emitted in 2021.

The network’s annual electricity usage had plummeted to 1,416,730 kWh last year from the previous value of 1,897,998 kWh recorded in 2021, according to data from Forex Suggest which recently assessed the global impact of crypto trading regarding Carbon emissions.

Dogecoin secured the eighth position on the list of blockchains with the highest annual CO2 emissions in 2022, falling from the seventh position in 2021. Despite Ethereum’s transition to PoS which drastically reduced its annual Carbon emissions from 21.9 million tons to 8,824 tons in 2022, Dogecoin still emits much lower CO2 as a PoW network.

Reports have ascribed this progressive decline in Dogecoin’s Carbon emissions to collective efforts from the Dogecoin developers and Elon Musk who has over the years shown a particular interest in the asset. Musk revealed on May 13, 2021, that he was working with Dogecoin developers to improve the efficiency of the network’s system transactions. 

The day before the disclosure, the billionaire had announced that Tesla, his electric vehicle company, would suspend payments via Bitcoin (BTC), citing environmental concerns associated with BTC mining. He further argued in December 2021 that Dogecoin is a better option than BTC when it comes to payments. The next day, he revealed that Tesla will start accepting DOGE as payment for merchandise.

Several global bodies that have condemned cryptocurrencies have cited the energy-demanding nature of crypto transactions and mining as one of the reasons behind the apathy. As cryptocurrencies go greener, further global adoption is expected. In September 2020, Ripple disclosed plans to go Carbon neutral by 2030. The company recently partnered with the Solana Foundation to foster crypto-focused climate action solutions.