Bitcoin Mining Now 56.7% Powered by Clean Energy, Cutting Renewables’ Payback Time

Research by Daniel Batten and collaborators finds 56.7% of Bitcoin (BTC) hashrate is now powered by sustainable energy (up from ~34% in 2021). The analysis argues miners accelerate renewable deployment by buying power that otherwise faces long grid-connection waits, shortening developers’ payback periods from roughly eight years to about 3.5 years. Mining’s flexible, on-demand load supports more variable solar and wind capacity and can stabilise grids. Projects such as “Gridless Compute” bring off-grid power to communities in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia (serving ~8,000 homes). Operators are repurposing waste energy: mining heat is used for district and greenhouse heating (Marathon Digital reportedly provides heat to ~80,000 residents in Finland) and miners consume flare gas and landfill methane, with carbon-negative mining estimated to offset ~7% of the Bitcoin network’s emissions. The report also says mining can unlock funding for niche renewable research (for example, ocean thermal energy conversion) by making projects financially viable without expensive grid links, and it addresses common misconceptions about mining’s energy footprint. For traders: the findings strengthen the narrative of a cleaner Bitcoin network, which can influence regulatory sentiment, institutional adoption arguments and ESG-focused flows. Primary keywords: Bitcoin, Bitcoin mining, clean energy, renewable energy, Gridless Compute.