Europe was reminded of the importance of wind speeds last year when these fell below average, causing lower than normal wind power output and partially contributing to the energy crunch that hit much of the continent in the autumn. The wind industry recognizes this fact: wind industry journal WindPower Monthly had an article that explained how wind park output depended more on wind speeds than on turbine performance, regardless of the age of the turbines.

Daniel Cohan, an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University, said that’s because of a major push made several years ago toward identifying competitive, renewable energy zones.

So fast, in fact, that it would take only one-third of the solar and wind energy projects that have already been proposed to almost entirely phase out coal in the state, according to a new study by researchers at Houston’s Rice University.

Lancium, a tech company focused on bitcoin mining, has raised $150 million to expand its renewable energy-run business model across Texas, CNBC reported.