Oh dear, turns out that Bitcoin mining can be actually very beneficial. Who would have thought? Definitely not the most vocal Bitcoin haters on HN. :)
the fact they got better returns on the energy market , they should have skipped the bitcoin part and used the extra capital they wasted on bitcoin miners to buy even more advance baseline generation to resell on the spot markets
just as one can invest in commodities without owning a warehouse and taking physical possession of them.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A1_Houston_Office_...
The "problem" is, that obviously society apparently has measures of benefit that are more important than material goods: money.
You're not going to teach businesses (that were given profit as their top priority .. by society!) to suddenly deviate from their given priorities and instead maximize material good xyz just because it's less controversial than money.
To really give the right incentives to businesses probably requires some form of carbon taxes, very hard to get right but not sure we have a choice as a lifeform...
(yes, bitcoin miners are not the only ones responsible for energy shortage, but let's not kid ourselves that they are helping.)