Cashed in on currency consuming energy (4)
I believe the answer is:
used
'cashed' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for used that I've seen before include "No longer new" , "given employment" , "not got directly" , "Hand-me-down" , "Brought into service" .)