It is a free world, so you are welcome to opine that Bitcoin is harmful to the environment. You should be aware however that the Scientific Consensus does not support your opinion. You'd be forgiven for not knowing this, since mainstream media has not exactly been proactive in letting you know! Since 2022, there have been 23 papers on Bitcoin and energy. 20 of these (87.0%) found that Bitcoin mining supported climate action, methane mitigation, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Here's the full list: 1. How Bitcoin Can Support Renewable Energy Development & Climate Action (Lal & You., 2023) Journal: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (Impact Factor: 7.1) https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c05445 Findings: Bitcoin mining helps renewable developers generate more profits, accelerating the renewable transition 2. Promoting rigor in blockchain energy and environmental footprint research (Sai & Vranken., 2024) Journal: Blockchain-Research and Applications (Impact factor 6.9) https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720923000441?via%3Dihub Findings: Reveals data-gathering and methodological flaws in the works of Alex de Vries/Digiconomist and other early commentators on Bitcoin mining 3. Climate sustainability through a dynamic duo: Green hydrogen and crypto driving energy transition and decarbonization (Lal & You., 2024) Journal: PNAS (Impact factor 9.4) https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2313911121 Findings: Combining green hydrogen and Bitcoin can enable capacity expansions of up to 25.5% for solar power and 73.2% for wind powered operations. 4. Cryptocurrency mining as a novel virtual energy storage system in islanded and grid-connected microgrids (Hajiaghapour-Moghimi et al., 2024) Journal: International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems (Impact factor: 5) https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142061524001364 Findings: Microgrids (MGs) not using Bitcoin Mining waste significant renewable energy. However using Bitcoin mining * stops almost all renewable waste* reduces MG costs by 46% * accelerates MG development * decarbonizes power production 5. High resolution modelling and analysis of cryptocurrency mining’s impact on power grids: Carbon footprint, reliability, and electricity price (Menati et al.,2023) Journal: Advances in Applied Energy (Impact factor: 13) https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266679242300015X Findings: Bitcoin mining's flexibility increases both grid reliability & stability 6. An integrated landfill gas-to-energy and Bitcoin mining framework (Rudd et al., 2024) Journal: Journal of Cleaner Production (Impact factor: 9.7) https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652624029652?via%3Dihub Findings: Bitcoin mining can profitably reduce landfill methane 7. Renewable Energy Transition Facilitated by Bitcoin (Velický.,2023) Journal: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (Impact Factor: 7.1) https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c06077 Findings: "The opportunities offered by bitcoin mining in reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy transition are greater than generally assumed" 8. Can bitcoin mining empower energy transition and fuel sustainable development goals in the US? (Lal et al.,2024) Journal: Journal of Cleaner Production (Impact factor: 9.7) https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652624002464 Findings: * Bitcoin mining with renewable energy is profitable in 96% of cases * Bitcoin mining is more consistently profitable than chemical-based utilization (hydrogen, ammonia, methanol) * "Profits from bitcoin mining can empower energy transition" 9. Rethinking bitcoin's energy use through sustainable digital business models and resources monetization Journal: Digital Business (Impact Factor: 7.4) https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666954425000092#s0105 (Dasaklis et al., 2025) Findings: * BTC mining can "promote cleaner energy use and reduce the carbon footprint of energy production" * By using renewable or stranded sources, Bitcoin mining aligns “economic incentives with sustainability goals" 10. Hedging Renewable Energy Investments with Bitcoin Mining (Bastian‐Pinto et al., 2021) Journal: Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews (Impact Factor: 16.3) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032120308054 Findings: Bitcoin mining acts as a financial hedge against low electricity prices, significantly improving the economic viability and profitability of wind energy projects. 11. Mining Bitcoins with Carbon Capture and Renewable Energy for Carbon Neutrality Across States in the USA (Niaz et al., 2022) Journal: Energy & Environmental Science (Impact Factor: 32.4) https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/ee/d1ee03804d Findings: Integrating Bitcoin mining with direct air carbon capture and renewable energy has the potential to make Bitcoin mining carbon-neutral, depending on state-specific electricity grids. 12. Study on the Economics of Wind Energy Through Cryptocurrency (Vega-Marcos et al., 2022) Journal: Energy Reports (Impact Factor: 4.7) https://accedacris.ulpgc.es/handle/10553/119153 Findings: Co-locating Bitcoin mining operations with wind farms significantly improves economic viability by generating additional revenue during periods when the wind farm is not supplying power to the grid. 13. Techno-economic and Environmental Evaluations of a Novel Cogeneration System Based on Solar Energy and Cryptocurrency Mining (Nikzad & Mehregan., 2022) Journal: Solar Energy (Impact Factor: 6.0) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038092X22000172 Findings: Coupling solar photovoltaic systems with Bitcoin mining can provide substantial financial returns and reduce carbon emissions, illustrating a highly profitable and sustainable approach. 14. Robust Optimization for Energy-Aware Cryptocurrency Farm Location with Renewable Energy (Lotfi et al., 2023) Journal: Computers & Industrial Engineering, Impact Factor: 6.7) Findings: Presents an optimization model for strategically locating cryptocurrency mining facilities near renewable energy sources, minimizing costs and carbon footprints, thereby integrating mining operations sustainably into energy grids. 15. Renewable energy and cryptocurrency: A dual approach to economic viability and environmental sustainability (Hakimi et al., 2024) Journal: Heliyon (Impact factor: 3.4) https://cell.com/heliyon/fulltext/S2405-8440(24)15796-9 Findings: * Bitcoin mining reduces the ROI from 8.1yrs to 3.5yrs while reducing CO2 emissions by 50,000 tonnes/year on a typical 50MW solar farm * PoS blockchains (such as Ethereum) can not offer these features * Profits from Bitcoin mining using renewable generation help accelerate the energy transition 16. The Feasibility Study of the Production of Bitcoin with Geothermal Energy: Case Study (Ehyaei et al., 2023) Journal: Energy Science & Engineering, Impact Factor: 3.5) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376862285_The_feasibility_study_of_the_production_of_Bitcoin_with_geothermal_energy_Case_study Findings: Demonstrates the economic feasibility of powering Bitcoin mining operations with geothermal energy, providing a renewable, profitable alternative to traditional energy sources. 17. The Relationship between Biomass & Bitcoin (Semaan et al., 2024) Journal: Sustainability (Impact Factor 3.9) https://mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7919 Findings * "Bitcoin [can] accelerate the UN's Sustainable Development Goals” * Bitcoin mining provides a way to make often economically unviable bio-refineries profitable Journals with impact factor <3.0 18. Bitcoin’s Carbon Footprint Revisited (Rudd et al., 2022) Journal: Challenges (Impact Factor: 2.8) https://mdpi.com/2078-1547/14/3/35 Findings [our research finding support] "a possible role for Bitcoin mining in promoting grid decarbonization" through effective demand response 19. Bitcoin and Its Energy, Environmental & Social Impacts (Rudd et al., 2023) Journal: Challenges (Impact Factor: 2.8) https://mdpi.com/2078-1547/14/4/47 Findings There is "transformative potential in the Bitcoin mining sector, especially regarding demand response, grid flexibility, and methane mitigation" 20. Can Bitcoin mining increase renewable capacity? (Bruno et al., 2023) Journal: Resource & Energy Economics (Impact Factor: 2.6) https://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928765523000313 Findings * Bitcoin mining can increase renewable energy penetration and obviates need for gas peaker plants * "When Bitcoin miners provide ... demand response, their emissions impact is largely mitigated."