You bring up very valid points.

One side effect of the bitcoin mining could well be the adoption of renewable energy. The cost simply is going through the stratosphere. Sure the price of bitcoin appreciating makes it worthwhile. That said, China was one of the leading mining countries and, oddly enough, is adding solar power in droves.

Could we see the day where mining farms are powered totally by solar or wind? The same transition is being made by Facebook and Google for their servers...why not the miners. Perhaps not all electricity can come from this source but at least they can reduce the upward slope by making a portion renewable.

Solar also witnessed a huge fall in pricing in 2017.....it all seems to be lining up.