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World desk5 min

How Much Electricity Do AI and Crypto Use? A Data-Centre vs. Bitcoin Comparison

The latest figures put global data centres at 485 TWh in 2025 and Bitcoin mining at an annualised 138.2 TWh in June 2024—but they cover different systems and periods.
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There is no clean, current like-for-like figure for “AI versus crypto.” The latest International Energy Agency (IEA) update puts all data centres—not AI alone—at 485 TWh of electricity in 2025, with 950 TWh projected for 2030. Cambridge’s latest Bitcoin estimate is an annualised 138.2 TWh as of 30 June 2024; its model extension reached 183 TWh at the end of 2024. The numbers have different boundaries, dates, and methods, so they do not establish an exact current ratio between AI and Bitcoin.

What does “AI vs. crypto power consumption” mean?

It means comparing electricity used by different computing systems, but the labels need boundaries. AI electricity is not reported as one universal total: AI workloads run in data centres alongside cloud services, storage, business software, and other computing. Bitcoin mining is a more distinct category, because miners use electricity to run specialized computers that compete to add blocks to the network.

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Crypto is not a single energy profile. Bitcoin uses proof of work, a consensus process involving extensive computation. Proof-of-stake networks do not require that same mining process. After Ethereum changed its consensus mechanism, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) cited Cambridge data putting Ethereum’s power demand at 0.005% of Bitcoin’s. That comparison concerns Ethereum after the change, not every proof-of-stake network or all crypto activity.

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Strictly speaking, power is the rate of electricity use, commonly expressed in megawatts (MW) or gigawatts (GW). Energy consumption accumulated over time is expressed in terawatt-hours (TWh). The figures below use TWh to compare electricity over a period or an annualised estimate.

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How much electricity do AI and crypto use?

The best available figures describe different things. The IEA’s data-centre total includes AI and non-AI workloads. Cambridge’s Bitcoin figures estimate the electricity used by Bitcoin mining. Neither is a direct measurement of AI alone versus all cryptocurrency.

Figure What it covers Period and status
415 TWh Global data centres, including both AI and non-AI computing 2024 estimate; about 1.5% of global electricity, according to the IEA’s 2025 report
485 TWh Global data centres, including both AI and non-AI computing 2025 figure reported in the IEA’s 2026 update
950 TWh Global data centres, including both AI and non-AI computing IEA projection for 2030, not observed consumption
138.2 TWh annualised Bitcoin mining Cambridge survey-based estimate as of 30 June 2024; responses represented 48% of network hashrate at the time
183 TWh Bitcoin mining Cambridge model extension for 31 December 2024, not a full-year meter reading

The 485 TWh data-centre figure is larger than either cited Bitcoin estimate, but that does not show that AI alone uses more electricity than Bitcoin. The data-centre total includes non-AI workloads, and the Bitcoin estimates refer to 2024 rather than the same 2025 period. The available figures therefore do not support an exact, current AI-to-Bitcoin ratio.

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How much of data-centre electricity use is AI?

The IEA’s 2026 update says AI-focused data-centre consumption grew 50% in 2025 and is projected to triple from 2025 to 2030. These are figures for AI-focused data centres, not a complete tally of every AI computation across all facilities. The IEA also says total data-centre electricity use was 485 TWh in 2025 and projects 950 TWh in 2030.

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The IEA’s 2025 report estimated total data-centre consumption at 415 TWh in 2024, about 1.5% of global electricity. Its 2025 outlook projected 945 TWh for 2030 in the Base Case; the later 2026 update gives a revised central projection of 950 TWh. Both are forecasts, not measurements of future consumption. The IEA notes that the outlook depends on factors including AI adoption, hardware and software efficiency, and energy infrastructure constraints. As the agency puts it in its Energy and AI report, “There is no AI without energy – specifically electricity for data centres.”

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How are Bitcoin’s electricity estimates made?

Bitcoin’s electricity demand cannot be read from one network-wide utility meter. Cambridge’s Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) models the network using a basket of real mining hardware and publishes lower, best-guess, and upper estimates to account for uncertainty about the machines in use and their efficiency.

Cambridge’s 2025 report gives an annualised estimate of 138.2 TWh as of 30 June 2024, based on survey responses representing 48% of network hashrate at that time. That figure was close to the CBECI model estimate of 137.4 TWh. Cambridge’s 183 TWh figure for 31 December 2024 is a model extension using network hashrate and hardware-efficiency assumptions; it is not a direct reading of electricity used over the calendar year.

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Older estimates illustrate why the method and date matter. In a 2024 article, the EIA cited a Cambridge range of 67–240 TWh for Bitcoin in 2023, with a point estimate of 120 TWh. That range is evidence of uncertainty in the older estimate, not a current Bitcoin figure. The EIA also noted that mining sites can be difficult to identify, may move in search of lower-cost electricity, and often do not disclose their power draw or operating details.

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Does more electricity use mean more climate impact?

Not by itself. Electricity consumption measures energy use; emissions also depend on where and when electricity is generated and the sources supplying it. Two systems consuming the same number of TWh can have different emissions if their electricity mixes differ.

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Cambridge’s 2025 survey reported a 52.4% sustainable-energy share for surveyed Bitcoin mining: 42.6% renewables and 9.8% nuclear. It also estimated 39.8 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent (MtCO₂e) in network-wide emissions. These are survey-based and modelled estimates, not a universally metered inventory of every miner’s electricity and emissions.

What should a fair comparison specify?

  • System boundary: State whether a data-centre figure covers all workloads or AI-focused facilities, and whether the crypto figure covers Bitcoin mining or another named network.
  • Time period: Distinguish a calendar-year total from an annualised rate at a survey snapshot, a model extension, or a future projection.
  • Unit: Use TWh for accumulated electricity and MW or GW for instantaneous power demand.
  • Method and uncertainty: Identify whether a figure comes from reported consumption, survey extrapolation, or a hardware and network model, and include any stated range or limitations.
  • Geography and electricity mix: A global electricity total does not say where consumption occurs or what generation sources supply it.
  • Forecast assumptions: Projections depend on adoption, efficiency, facility construction, grid connections, and other infrastructure constraints.

As of the IEA’s 2026 update and Cambridge’s 2025 report, the available global figures do not provide a newer primary-source Bitcoin or total proof-of-work estimate for 2025 or 2026 that is comparable to the IEA’s updated data-centre totals. Use the date-qualified figures above rather than presenting them as a synchronized measure of present-day AI and crypto use.

Sources: IEA, “Energy Demand from AI”; IEA, Energy and AI executive summary; IEA, Energy and AI; Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, 2025 report announcement; Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index; U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Bitcoin consumes a lot of electricity. How much?,” 2024; EIA on Bitcoin and Ethereum electricity demand.

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