This article is an excerpt from our research report titled "How Bitcoin Mining Can Transform the Energy Industry". The research report lays out five characteristics of bitcoin miners, which make them uniquely flexible energy consumers, and explains four energy problems bitcoin miners can help solve. This article explains one of these problems: How bitcoin mining improves the economics of renewable energy. Let's get into it.
The global generation capacities of wind and solar power have seen massive growth over the past years. In its Sustainable Development Scenario, the IEA estimates that wind and solar generation capacities will need to keep growing and reach 2,800 GW and 4,200 GW by 2040 to limit global warming to well under 2॰C above pre-industrial levels.