NFT Environmental Impact 2025: How Green Technology Is Transforming the Industry

This article was first published on Deythere.

There has been a huge amount of environmental concern around NFTs. The surge in NFT sales on energy-hungry blockchains had led to scrutiny of the climate footprint in 2021-2022. However, the story is starting to change now. New research finds that leading NFT platforms and blockchain networks are headed to significantly lower levels of carbon emissions.

How NFTs Consume Energy

Each NFT, be it a picture, video, or digital collectible of some sort, has to be registered on the blockchain. That process, called minting (or creation), as well as each sale or transfer, requires computational work. As TechTarget notes, NFTs require energy from their creation( ‘minting’) to sales and the continued storage of these assets online.

In other words, as long as an NFT is on the blockchain, it uses electricity,” says blockchain expert Marc Lijour.

The consensus mechanism of the blockchain determines how much energy is consumed. Proof-of-Work (PoW) chains, as is the case with Bitcoin, force miners to solve challenging puzzles which consume large amounts of electricity (Bitcoin’s energy use currently sits at 131 TWh/year).

In contrast, Proof of Stake (PoS) chains (like Ethereum 2.0, Tezos, Solana, Cardano) do not require mining at all and have radically reduced their energy consumption needs by such “mining”.

Prior to 2022, Ethereum used PoW like Bitcoin, but in September 2022, Ethereum switched to using PoS, reducing the electricity consumption of Ethereum by a jaw-dropping 99.99%.

Each transaction on an Ethereum NFT consumes only about 0.02 kg of CO₂, following the transition in light of earlier estimates.

It is still difficult to estimate precisely an NFT carbon footprint. NFT transactions occur across multiple layers (on-chain, off-chain, storage), which makes accurate accounting nearly impossible today.

FTI Consulting’s Preston Fischer explains that even though transactions are power-intensive, evidence shows that with advances in proof of stake (PoS) and transactional batching, new energy activity is nearly free.

In more practical terms, the calculations suggest that modern blockchains are consuming far less per NFT than many feared. For reference, Solana claims one transaction uses only 0.00412Wh, approximately the equivalent energy of a Google search. Ethereum’s proof-of-stake average (post-merge) is also minuscule, grams of CO₂ per transaction.

Ethereum’s Merge and What It Means for the Sustainability of NFTs

Ethereum has been the leading NFT network. The NFT environmental impact was set to change with its 2022 transition (the Merge). Prior to the Merge, Ethereum’s proof-of-work mining burned tens of terawatt-hours per year.

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance calculated that energy consumption post-Merge dropped 99.99%. As the Ethereum Foundation points out, this upgrade made Ethereum ‘green’, consuming just 0.05% of its previous energy levels.

The change is quantified by research. Following the Merge, Ethereum’s annual electricity demand fell to around 0.01 terawatt-hours and 0.01 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent.

In other words, the total annual emissions for the entire Ethereum network are now about 0.01 Metric tons CO₂, equivalent to burning some 500 litres of gasoline. A transaction on Ethereum to mint and sell the NFT today contributes only .02 kg CO2 (as a comparison, mailing a carbon copy of the art emits 1.5 kg CO2).

These reductions show that Ethereum NFTs’ carbon footprint has been all but erased by the transition from PoW to PoS.

Green Blockchains and Low-Carbon NFTs

Outside of Ethereum, plenty of NFT creators are migrating to blockchains that are intrinsically low energy. Tezos, for instance, is built in such a way that it has used PoS from the very beginning of its existence and has an incredibly small footprint. All the carbon emissions put out by Tezos’ full network in one year equals the energy use of 17 ordinary people.

According to PwC’s report, Tezos requires only 0.001 TWh/year, thousands of times smaller than Bitcoin. In practice, the Tezos zero-knowledge NFT produces grams of CO₂ per token minted, making it popular among “green” collectors.

Other PoS-based networks are similarly efficient. Solana’s 2024 paper shows its total energy usage, conservatively 8.5 GWh, is insignificant next to PoW chains.

Solana’s carbon footprint in 2024 stood at just 2,671 metric tons, roughly what 167 typical Americans would go on to produce during a year. In contrast, energy consumption of Bitcoin (159.8 TWh) results in 70 million tons of CO₂.

Just for reference, here’s the same in tabular form:

These differences are a point of focus for many new NFT marketplaces and platforms. Artists and buyers increasingly prefer chains like Tezos, Flow, Cardano or Algorand; some that even offset their emissions.

Algorand has gone carbon-neutral through green tech investments. Platforms like Hedera and blockchain consortia have also launched carbon-offset NFT programs, projects like Coorest issue NFTs that represent planted trees, for example, while IMPT sells the NFT carbon credits outright.

These are trend lines that emphasize the point. NFTs and blockchains are developing to become more environmentally friendly and in line with sustainable practices.

Expert Perspectives on NFT Sustainability

Industry insiders are saying that consumer behavior is the force behind these shifts. The market has responded, so that creators and collectors are choosing which networks they want to mint on, often based on its sustainability.

Ari Lightman of Carnegie Mellon agrees that transparency is important, as the use of energy in blockchain becomes more visible, that might turn users to also change their behavior and support greener options.

According to Preston Fischer at FTI Consulting, emerging consensus models and tweaks to the design mean NFT transactions are much more efficient than critics suggest.

As experts explain, NFT “ordinals” on Bitcoin (NFT-like inscriptions) don’t add to Bitcoin’s base energy use. The chain burns the same amount of power whether or not ordinals exist.

Each NFT sale on a PoS chain contributes only a trivial amount to energy use. Fischer even mentions that on Solana, per transaction, electricity is less than a Google search; arguably, Ethereum is even less. These comparisons show that NFT environmental cost per sale has become a minimal factor on new networks.

Market Trends and Future Outlook

NFT trading activity is down sharply from a peak in 2021. Speculative buying is on the downswing and so, too, are opportunities for profit.

Analysts had forecasted that sales of NFTs on online marketplaces could fall by around 11 per cent in 2025. It was the second-largest annual decline on record, trailing behind a 62% slide seen in 2023.

Environmental backlash is identified as one such factor. NFTs on energy-intensive blockchains drew backlash over their ecological impact.

Even as the chill prevails, experts see hope. Due to the tech changes already in motion, the net environmental impact of NFTs is declining shockingly quickly.

Today, the majority of new NFT issuances are on low-energy chains or layer‑2 solutions. Art platforms and collectors are now even tracking and offsetting carbon. Online tools mean creators can estimate the CO₂ cost of their NFTs, and neutralize if via donations to renewable projects.

In short, consumer awareness and greener infrastructure are flipping the page on NFTs’ eco-reputation.

Conclusion

NFT environmental impact is in a state of transformation. The trendy or meme incentivized low energy consumption consensus that all of these major chains are adopting (e.g. Ethereum PoS Merge) has resulted in a 99% reduction in NFT energy use.

New chains and platforms from Tezos to Solana provide “green” minting by default. Collectors and regulators alike now demand transparency around these artworks’ carbon footprints.

In short, while early NFTs were dismissed as climate villains, the direction now appears to be an industry rapidly cleaning up its act. NFTs today are hardly draining carbon compared with years ago.

Glossary

NFT (Non-Fungible Token): A one-of-a-kind digital asset stored in a blockchain that records who owns it and its entire transaction history, often art, music or collectibles.

Blockchain: A decentralized digital ledger on which transactions (like NFT trades) are stored in blocks securely linked by cryptography.

Proof-of-Work (PoW): An electricity-consuming method to reach blockchain consensus in which computers (also called miners) solve puzzles to approve transactions (applied by Bitcoin, pre-2022 Ethereum).

PoS (Proof-of-Stake): An environmentally friendly consensus mechanism that requires validators to stake coins instead of mine. It cryptographically secures networks for minimal power (like the one used by Ethereum 2.0, Tezos, Solana and others).

Carbon Footprint: The combined amount of greenhouse gas emissions, measured in CO2 equivalents, produced by an activity. For NFTs, it’s the CO₂ generated by the energy one blockchain used in producing the NFT.

Carbon Offset: The reduction of emissions of carbon for example by planting trees elsewhere to compensate for those being produced. Some NFTs are linked to offsets that make them “carbon neutral.”

Minting: To create a new NFT on a blockchain by saving the asset data in a transaction.

Frequently Asked Questions About NFT Environmental Impact

What is the environmental cost of an NFT?

NFTs’ carbon footprint stems from the associated blockchain energy for minting and transfers. On PoW chains (pre-2022 Ethereum or Bitcoin), minting an NFT could release tens or hundreds of kilograms of CO₂. On PoS chains today (Ethereum 2.0, Tezos, Solana etc.) it’s a tiny amount, generally only grams of CO₂ per transaction.

What did the Ethereum Merge do to NFTs’ carbon footprint?

Ethereum’s September 2022 Merge eliminates PoW and opens the doors to an explosion in NFTs. Authors found a 99.99% reduction in Ethereum energy consumption after Merge. Reality is that annual emissions of Ethereum dropped to 0.01 metric tons of CO₂, so an NFT sale on Ethereum just results in 0.02 kg CO₂ now.

Are there blockchains where NFTs use very little energy?

Yes. PoS blockchains like Tezos, Solana, Flow, Cardano and Avalanche require much less power than PoW chains. A network like Tezos, use only about 0.001 TWh/year (as much energy as merely 17 persons). The entire Solana network consumed about 8.5 gigawatt-hours in 2024. On those chains, each NFT transaction produces just a few grams of CO₂, or essentially nothing.

Can one create or obtain NFTs without destroying the planet?

One can opt for platforms that focus on sustainability. Many NFT marketplaces today feature low-energy blockchains or provide carbon-offset options. Some projects (like Coorest or IMPT) link NFT sales to tree-planting or carbon credits. Mint on a proof-of-stake chain or support an offset project to ensure that your NFT activity is close to the conference’s overall carbon neutrality.

How do NFT trends change on climate-related issues, experts say?

Experts think green NFTs are going to be a lasting trend. As Scott Likens from PwC observes, purchasers and producers are choosing networks based on sustainability. Innovations like less energy-intensive consensus models, transparent carbon tracking and renewable energy support will continue to drive emissions further downward for NFTs. The consensus seems to be that, with these initiatives in place, the NFT environmental impact will continue to remain extremely low.

References

Techtarget

Ethereum

Galleryclimatecoalition

Researchgate

Tezos

Hedera