Tezos, a privacy-focused blockchain network, released its carbon footprint report from PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory SAS, a French member firm of the PwC network. 

The PwC report reflects drastic improvements in energy efficiency for Tezos since moving from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) mining consensus. 

The PwC report highlighted a significant decline in carbon emission by Tezos network despite a rise in network activity. The Tezos blockchain accounted for 50 million transactions while, according to the report, the whole network constituted an energy footprint of 17 world citizens. 

The energy efficiency for each transaction on the network increased by 70% while the estimated electricity requirement per transaction was 30% lower than in 2020.

“As more brands and companies factor energy consumption into business decisions, an energy-efficient blockchain like Tezos is well poised to meet their needs and deliver efficient, secure and reliable operations,” said Reid Yager, global director of communications at Blokhaus, a marketing firm associated with Tezos.

The annual energy consumption of the Tezos network is estimated to be at 0.001 Terawatt hours (TWh), which is negligible when compared to the likes of Bitcoin (BTC) at 130 TWh and Ethereum (ETH) at 26 TWh. Tezos consumes nearly 2.5 g CO2 equivalent per transaction

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The change to PoS has not only helped the Tezos network to decrease its carbon footprint, but has also opened new avenues in nonfungible tokens (NFT) and decentralized finance. Tezos has been selected by Red Bull Racing, Honda and McLaren Racing as their NFT launch platform. It was also named the blockchain of choice by Art Basel Miami Beach for its ecosystem exhibition.

There has been a significant increase in the number of blockchain networks making the switch from PoW to PoS owing to energy consumption issues and scalability complexities. ZCash (ZEC), another privacy-focused blockchain network, is making the switch to PoS. Most of the blockchain networks moving to POS are looking to steer clear of the energy consumption FUD associated with the PoW mining consensus.