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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Is Tesla’s carbon footprint 10 times larger than Bitcoin’s?

Saturday, May 15, 2021

By Austin Tannenbaum

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According to available data, Tesla does not have a carbon footprint ten times larger than Bitcoin. In fact, the electric car maker’s carbon footprint is significantly smaller.

In 2019, Tesla released its first “impact” report, based on internal data collected from 2017. Summarizing the report, Bloomberg stated that Tesla emitted an estimated 282,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide worldwide “directly and indirectly, across its facilities, energy operations, network of car chargers and sales and delivery services.”

The energy research journal Joule reported in 2019 that Bitcoin’s “annual carbon emissions range from 22.0 to 22.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.”

The computing power required to support Bitcoin, an encrypted digital currency, accounts for 0.69% of global energy consumption. If Bitcoin were a country, its energy needs would rank 26th in the world.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Tesla Impact Report 2019

Bloomberg Tesla’s first impact report puts hard number on CO2 emissions

Joule The carbon footprint of Bitcoin

Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index: Comparisons

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.