In our research report titled "How Bitcoin Mining Can Transform the Energy Industry", we explain how the unique flexibility of bitcoin mining as an energy consumer enables it to be used as an energy tool that can help solve several energy problems. In this blog post, we go through the five power consumption characteristics of bitcoin mining that make it a uniquely flexible energy consumer.
Electricity makes up around 80% of a miner's operating costs. Because of the importance of the electricity input, we consider mining an electricity refining process: The miner sends electricity into its machines, which refines the electricity into bitcoin.