JUST IN: new peer-reviewed research finds Bitcoin mining has the capacity to absorb 83% of the wind Ireland is forced to throw away, lifting wind farm revenues by 32%. The paper is a wake-up call for grid operators, regulators and political leaders around the world whose grids are wasting large quantities of renewable energy, because the paper includes a head-to-head comparison with battery, finding 2 significant advantages, both which matter to the taxpayer. 1. No subsidy required: "Compared with battery storage, hydrogen electrolysis, or transmission reinforcement, the co-investment is privately financed and operationally market-driven" and "...without requiring physical network upgrades or regulatory subsidy." 2. No performance degradation "Unlike battery storage, mining incurs no round-trip efficiency losses or cycle degradation; unlike hydrogen electrolysis, it requires no downstream offtake infrastructure." In layman's terms, this means that a battery gives back less power than it takes, and wears out with every cycle - whereas hydrogen needs a pipeline and a buyer at the far end. Bitcoin mining simply pays to use otherwise wasted power on the spot and needs nothing more after that. Plus, Batteries, hydrogen and new wires are all paid for by the public. Bitcoin mining, uniquely, isn't. To summarize: Together with previous papers on renewable energy monetization using Bitcoin mining, this technology is looking increasingly like the only tax-neutral way to keep renewable energy transition targets on track (or get them back on track). The finding puts even more pressure on Ireland's neighbour, the UK, which continues to waste significant amounts of wind energy, to properly evaluate Bitcoin mining. source: https://wastedwind.energy/ This paper is doubly-significant because prior studies were done on deregulated grids like ERCOT (Texas). This study shows that Bitcoin mining's benefits extend to islanded regulated grids with high renewable penetration. The study comes at a time where Ireland is currently wasting11.4% of its available wind (source: https://cms.eirgrid.ie/sites/default/files/publications/Annual-Renewable-Constraint-and-Curtailment-Report-2025-V1.0.pdf). Its Climate Action Plan targets <7% curtailment by 2030. But an independent estimate says it's currently going in the opposite direction, projected to increase to16% by 2030, even with storage and demand response built (source: https://www.seai.ie/sites/default/files/2025-02/dess-background-material-2024%E2%80%932040.pdf). The paper is published in Energy Economics which has an impact factor of 13.5 (top 2% of academic journals) Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109454(Daniel Batten)