Can we reduce the energy consumption of POW? And whether it is necessary

[batang_bitcoin]

4. What methods do you think can be used to reduce the energy consumption of POW?

PoS is the solution for it. But are you going to settle for PoS when PoW is the most secured of them all? if you are for security, PoW is the key. But if not, then PoS is totally fine and if you're already rich then it's likely that you'd be richer with that.

The problem with POS is with centralization. All the token is concentrated in a single pool so if something happens with it the whole Blockchain can be in danger. Though it consum less energy and faster than most POW network but it's centralization problem can be a big concern in the future. Vitalik also said that the problem of eth centralization will not solve very soon.

Exactly.
But because of what they believe is right, they've pushed for it and it happened for ETH. And we're seeing more of these projects go into PoS because of their advocacy to save energy. Like everytime there's a PoW discussion, it's always the emission that they discuss like it's a curse that they can't getaway with it.

[o48o]

Crypto mining is the least energy consumption people need to worry about, there are a lot of other stuff that consume massive energy. Food processing, transportation, .etc. According to this article, https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitcoin-energy-use-compare-industry Bitcoin only consumes 0.28% of energy of total energy consumption by Transportation.

https://www.techopedia.com/bitcoin-mining-and-energy-statistics#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20New%20York,cooling%20throughout%20the%20US%20annually.

In here, Bitcoin mining consumes roughly 0.5% of all energy produced worldwide.

That number is insignificant, even if all the miners stop, energy crisis will still happening. 

Sure, but it's a tough sell to justify it for something people see less important then transportation and foode. Nocoiners don't generally see bitcoin as a net positive or even as a solution to anything. And it's hard to argue back when most of the crypto people seem to want centralization and synthetic bitcoins if it brings us more money. And when that centralization part is being attacked by officials, it immediately affects to bitcoin's price. Even though bitcoin should have nothing to do with it.

And when it comes to question of OP, so far i haven't heard any proof of work that would mean less work/power consumption. The answer is literally in the acronym.

[rat4]

The problem with POS is with centralization. All the token is concentrated in a single pool so if something happens with it the whole Blockchain can be in danger. Though it consum less energy and faster than most POW network but it's centralization problem can be a big concern in the future.

Apparently any consensus can be pooled in this or that way. Nowadays two Bitcoin pools have 51% of hashrate.

[LoyceV]

1. Can we reduce the energy consumption of POW?

Yes everyday new technology released and it's quite possible to made hardware node to reduce the energy consumption of Proof-of-Work mechanisms.

Not really. What happens, is that the hashrate-per-watt goes up. As long as it's profitable, money is converted into hardware and heat. The best solution for lower energy consumption is lower block rewards, but that only works if transaction fees don't go up too much.