Green by Design? Investigating the Energy and Carbon Footprint of Chia Network

TL;DR

This paper critically evaluates the environmental impact of Chia Network, revealing that its actual carbon footprint significantly exceeds its green claims due to resource-intensive processes.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis combining experimental data and theoretical modeling to assess Chia's true sustainability profile.

Findings

Chia's emissions are 18 times higher than claimed

The initialization phase is highly resource-intensive

Chia's carbon footprint exceeds mainstream green blockchains

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the environmental impact of Chia Network (Chia for short), a green-claimed blockchain, which uses a Proof of Space and Time (PoST) consensus mechanism. While Chia claims to be a sustainable alternative to Proof-of-Work-based blockchains, our results show that its resource-intensive initialization phase and ongoing operations lead to carbon emissions 18x higher than claimed (0.88 MtCO2/year), exceeding mainstream "green" blockchains by orders of magnitude. We combine experimental measurements from a controlled testbed (Grid'5000) with theoretical modeling of operational and embodied emissions to assess Chia's true sustainability profile.