Quantum computing promises to solve problems in minutes that would take classical computers millennia—yet these machines waste 99.9% of their energy just staying cold. IBM’s 127-qubit Eagle processor consumes less than 25 watts for actual quantum processing but requires 25,000 watts total system power, with cooling alone demanding up to 15,000 watts. This stunning 1000:1 ratio between cooling and computing power reveals a fundamental paradox that could derail quantum computing’s revolutionary potential.
The numbers are stark: Google’s 53-qubit Sycamore processor burns 26 kilowatts continuously—enough to power 10 average American homes—yet performs computations using less than one kilowatt. D-Wave’s quantum annealing systems maintain 25 kilowatts consumption even with over 5,000 qubits. Every quantum computer operating today consumes between 100 and 1,000 times more power for cooling than for actual computation, creating an energy efficiency disaster that worsens with scale.
Here is my post about hidden energy burden of quantum computing on my Substack blog