What's going on?
Independent Whitepapers, peer reviewed papers, sustainability media companies, mainstream media and specialists in the field of grid operations, energy and renewable generation have all endorsed Bitcoin mining's growing list of environmental benefits.
This is quite a turnaround from 2021, when it was not uncommon for people to believe that Bitcoin mining was bad for the environment, a sentiment that was reinforced by the type of reporting that was done at that time. Bitcoin mining it seems is following the same trend as other disruptive technologies including the Bicycle, The Radio and The Internet , who received negative coverage for a period of time, which then improved as people came to better understand the utility of the technology.
The phases that greet disruptive technologies are :
phase 1: negative first impressions dominate phase 2: better understanding and mixed reports phase 3: initial negative assessments have been debunked, and positive externalities are not only better understood, but evidenced with real world examples.
This article documents Bitcoin coverage and studies from:
Independent reports ( 88.9% show strong environmental benefits) Mainstream media reporting ( 91.7% highlight Bitcoin's environmental benefits) Sustainable media reporting ( 93.3% highlight Bitcoin's environmental benefits) Peer reviewed articles ( 81.5% show strong environmental benefits)
which collectively show evidence that Bitcoin has just entered phase three.
The document is current as of May 2025.
1. Independent reports
1. Cambridge University , April 2025
Summary of Findings: Bitcoin mining is 52.4% sustainable energy powered; eWaste is very small compared to other industries due to good recycling/re-use/resale practices; methane mitigation is occurring at scale; Bitcoin mining is also helping stabilize grids and obviate fossil fuel heating through use of recycled Bitcoin mining exhaust heat.
2. Duke University , Feb 2025
Summary of Findings: "Flexible loads can mitigate peak increases, optimize the utilization of existing [grid] infrastructure, and reduce the urgency for costly and time-consuming [grid] capacity expansions." The report found Bitcoin mining to be by far the top flexible load, achieving "a 95% load reduction during peak demands. The authors suggested that were AI datacenters to use this flexible load, it would help grid operators meet AI peak-load energy demand.
3. Open Dialog Foundation (Human Rights Institute), May 2024
Key Finding: Bitcoin mining can aid both EUs climate goals and energy security goals, while lowering the cost of electricity for residential users.
4. Tikula Research Network , Jan 2024
Key Finding: Microgrids can deliver electricity to 600 Million sub-Saharan Africans; unlike other approaches, Bitcoin mining can get these renewable microgrids operational quickly and profitably
5. Institute of Risk Management , Sept 2023
Key Finding: Bitcoin mining is part of the climate solution, supporting both the green energy transition and methane mitigation
6. KPMG , Aug 2023
Key Finding: Bitcoin mining offers a range of benefits across the ESG Framework
7. Ideasmiths , June 2021
Summary of Findings: Flexible datacenters such as Bitcoin Mining enable grid build-outs using a high concentration of Variable Renewable Energy (solar and wind).
8. International District Energy Association , July 2025
Key Findings: "Bitcoin mining can be a practical way of cutting carbon and costs while keeping communities warm" and "each MW of recycled heat from bitcoin mining results in 455 T fewer CO2 emissions per year than the average district heating facility in Finland."
2. Mainstream Media Coverage
Overall percentage: 89.5% of recent Mainstream News Media reporting on Bitcoin mining is positive.
1. BBC : Bitcoin mining delivers renewable energy to rural Africa. Source
2. Bloomberg : Bitcoin Miners Use Iceland’s Surplus of Renewable Energy. Source
3. The Independent : Bitcoin mining could supercharge transition to renewables. Source
4. Reuters : Bitcoin mining company MARA's new operation "captures gas that was slated to be burned or vented into the atmosphere as methane, a powerful global warming gas" Source
5. Al Jazeera : How Bhutan saved its economy by using its renewable, surplus hydro energy for Bitcoin mining. Source
6. CNBC : Bitcoin mining reduced electricity rates paid by residents by 29% in rural Kenya Source
7. The Street : Bitcoin is key to the future of renewable energy. Source
8. Fox News : Bitcoin reaches 52.4% sustainable energy use. Source
9. Forbes : Bitcoin emerges as a promising player in the green revolution. Source
10. Financial Times: Bitcoin can push beneficial environmental and social outcomes. Source
11. Yahoo Finance : Bitcoin shown to combat air pollution. Source
12. MSN : Bitcoin is helping solve African rural energy challenges . Source
13. The Hill : Bitcoin mining is energizing sustainability through green innovation. Source
14. Unherd : Bitcoin delivered electricity to 1800 African villagers. Source
15. Euronews : Sustainable Bitcoin mining is developing Bhutan's energy independence. Source
16. Wall Street Journal : Bhutan used hydro-powered Bitcoin mining to lift government salaries by up to 65%. Source
17. Technology Review : "Bitcoin mining saved an iconic African National Park". Source
18. Inc Magazine : As the sector matures, Bitcoin mining is now using recycled heat to warm greenhouses, balancing grids and using downtime to train AI. Source
19. Global News Canada: Bitcoin mining can heat city pool with recycled heat while earning money for the community Source
20. South China Morning Post : Laos plans to pay for new hydro-generation using Bitcoin mining Source
21. FastCompany: Bitcoin mining "could help address a chronic clean electricity oversupply problem, which has cost energy companies ~$1 billion in the last two years" Source
22. Business Insider: Bitcoin mining "boosts local economies, expands energy access, and lowers electricity costs for communities." Source
3. Sustainability and Climate News Media
Overall percentage: 91.7% of recent sustainability and Climate News Media reporting on Bitcoin mining is positive.
1. Renewables Now : Bitcoin helps green energy adoption and grid stabilization . Source
2. Renewable Energy Magazine : Bitcoin Mining is enabling Landfill Gas methane mitigation. Source
3. Anthropocene Magazine : Bitcoin mining could help wind and solar development . Source
4. One Green Planet : Bitcoin mining is more sustainable than previously thought . Source
5. Microgrid Media : Bitcoin mining increases grid stability and helps make the grid "more efficient and less wasteful." Source
6. The Africa Report : Bitcoin mining in Ethiopia has helped grow green energy expand Ethiopia's grid . Source
7. Recharge Magazine: (3 articles). Bitcoin is aiding the renewable transition . Source. Bitcoin mining provides a blueprint for monetizing previously wasted renewable energy and stabilizing the grid . Source Telco giant using otherwise wasted renewable energy to mine Bitcoin . Source
8. The Cooldown : Bitcoin mining is helping to ease geopolitical tensions, stabilize grids, reduce electricity prices, monetize wasted renewable energy. Source
9. Carboncredits.com : Bitcoin mining has emerged as a promising solution for enabling EU to meet its green energy transition and energy security goals. Source
10. Northern Forum : Bitcoin mining is "transforming the energy production game" by absorbing excess renewables. Source
11. Sustainability Online " More than half the energy used to mine Bitcoin last year was sustainable." Source
12. EnergyTech: 2 Bitcoin mining companies expanding the network's renewable footprint, using wind-based power in Texas. Source
13. Sustainability Magazine : How Bitcoin mining can utilize "what might otherwise be wasted renewable energy" Source
14. Sustainable Biz Canada: Bitcoin mining heat recycling for greenhouse offsets 12,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. Source
4. Peer reviewed articles
Overall percentage: 80% of recent papers on Bitcoin and energy published are positive.
Since Q4 2022, there have been 20 peer reviewed papers on Bitcoin and energy which showed positive environmental externalities.
These papers collectively show that Bitcoin mining
Supporting climate action and UN Sustainability Goals, Accelerating the clean energy transition Improving Grid Stability and Reliability Enables the grid to support additional variable renewable energy) Faciitates Grid Decarbonization through Demand Response Supporting development of other green energy solutions including but not limited to Renewable microgrids, green hydrogen, geothermal, biomass, direct air capture) Is uniquely positioned to mitigate methane from landfills
Full list:
1. How Bitcoin Can Support Renewable Energy Development & Climate Action ( Lal & You 2023 )
Journal: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (Impact Factor: 7.1 )
Findings: Bitcoin mining helps renewable developers generate more profits, accelerating the renewable transition
2. Renewable Energy Transition Facilitated by Bitcoin ( Velický 2023 )
Journal: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (Impact Factor: 7.1 )
Findings: "The opportunities offered by bitcoin mining in reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy transition are greater than generally assumed"
3. 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 )
Findings: Bitcoin mining with renewable energy is profitable in 96% of cases and is consistently more profitable than chemical-based utilization (hydrogen, ammonia, methanol). The "profits from bitcoin mining can empower energy transition."
4. Rethinking bitcoin's energy use through sustainable digital business models and resources monetization ( Dasaklis et al. 2025 )
Journal: Digital Business (Impact Factor: 7.4 )
Findings: Bitcoin 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."
5. Hedging Renewable Energy Investments with Bitcoin Mining ( Bastian‐Pinto et al. 2021 )
Journal: Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews (Impact Factor: 16.3 )
Findings: Bitcoin mining acts as a financial hedge against low electricity prices, significantly improving the economic viability and profitability of wind energy projects.
6. 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.
7. Renewable energy and cryptocurrency: A dual approach to economic viability and environmental sustainability ( Hakimi et al. 2024 )
Journal: Heliyon (Impact factor: 3.4 )
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. Profits from Bitcoin mining using renewable generation help accelerate the energy transition. PoS blockchains (such as Ethereum) can not offer these features.
8. Study on the Economics of Wind Energy Through Cryptocurrency ( Vega-Marcos et al. 2022 )
Journal: Energy Reports (Impact Factor: 4.7 )
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.
9. 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 )
Findings: Combining crypto-mining with a typical "PV rooftop system can supply 83% of the consumed electricity of the mining system per year and prevent the annual emissions of 5.5 tCO2 to the atmosphere simultaneously."
10. 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 )
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 and decarbonizes power production
11. Climate sustainability through a dynamic duo: Green hydrogen and crypto driving energy transition and decarbonization ( Lal & You. 2024 )
Journal: PNAS (Impact factor 9.4 )
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.
12. 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 )
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.
13. The Feasibility Study of the Production of Bitcoin with Geothermal Energy: Case Study ( Aliehyaei et al. 2023 )
Journal: Energy Science & Engineering, Impact Factor: 3.5 )
Findings: Demonstrates the economic feasibility of powering Bitcoin mining operations with geothermal energy, providing a renewable, profitable alternative to traditional energy sources.
14. The Relationship between Biomass & Bitcoin ( Semaan et al. 2024 )
Journal: Sustainability (Impact Factor: 3.9
Findings: "Bitcoin [can] accelerate the UN's Sustainable Development Goals”, and provides a way to make often economically unviable bio-refineries profitable
15. An integrated landfill gas-to-energy and Bitcoin mining framework ( Rudd et al. 2024 )
Journal: Journal of Cleaner Production (Impact factor: 9.7 )
Findings: Bitcoin mining can profitably reduce landfill methane
16. 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 )
Findings: Bitcoin mining's flexibility increases both grid reliability & stability
17. Bitcoin’s Carbon Footprint Revisited: Proof of Work Mining for Renewable Energy Expansion ( Ibañez et al. 2022 )
Journal: Challenges (Impact Factor: 2.8 )
Findings: [our research finding support] "a possible role for Bitcoin mining in promoting grid decarbonization" through effective demand response”
18. Bitcoin and Its Energy, Environmental & Social Impacts ( Rudd et al. 2023 )
Journal: Challenges (Impact Factor: 2.8 )
Findings: There is "transformative potential in the Bitcoin mining sector, especially regarding demand response, grid flexibility, and methane mitigation"
19. Can Bitcoin mining increase renewable capacity? ( Bruno et al. 2023)
Journal: Resource & Energy Economics (Impact Factor: 2.6 )
Findings: Bitcoin mining can increase renewable energy penetration, replacing the need for gas peaker plants. Also: "When Bitcoin miners provide ... demand response, their emissions impact is largely mitigated."
20. Hedging Investments of Grid-Connected PV-BESS in Buildings Using Cryptocurrency Mining: A Case Study in Finland ( Hajiaghapour-Moghimi et al. 2025)
Journal: IEEE Access (Impact Factor 3.6 )
Findings: Bitcoin mining is more effective at accelerating rooftop solar development than using either Batteries, or standalone solar deployments. 12.5% ROI for Battery versus Bitcoin a 57.7% ROI using Bitcoin (4.6x higher).
21. Empirical Insights into Economic Viability: Integrating Bitcoin Mining with Biorefineries Using a Stochastic Model ( Semaan et al. 2025 )
Journal MDPI Systems (Impact Factor: 3.1)
Findings: Integrating Bitcoin mining with bio-refineries can
avoid waste by creating an additional revenue stream that could lower prices for bio-based products support renewable energy growth by acting as a flexible, off-grid power sink, that reduces (flare) emissions
22. Promoting rigor in blockchain energy and environmental footprint research ( Sai & Vranken 2024 )
Journal: Blockchain-Research and Applications (Impact factor 6.9 )
Findings: Reveals data-gathering and methodological flaws in the works of Alex de Vries/Digiconomist and other early commentators on Bitcoin mining
Summary
Only four years ago, it was anomalous to see a report suggesting Bitcoin mining had environmental benefits. Now it is an anomaly to read a news article, see an independent report, or see a scientific publication that focuses on the negative environmental externalities.
This trend appears to have been driven by three factors
1. The natural cycle that accompanies any disruptive technology.
2. The discrediting of earlier first generation studies on Bitcoin mining, which were found to have had substantial methodological flaws .
3. The migration of Bitcoin mining to more sustainable power sources ( 37.6% in 2021 , versus 52.4% in 2025 )
Further Reading and resources
How Bitcoin is indispensable climate action Why Bitcoin mining and renewable energies are synergistic. Podcast Follow me on X: @dsbatten Our climatetech fund, CH4Capital
