> Is there no way to slim down the resource requirements to cut electrical use?
To put it bluntly (not meant to sound blunt, I just can't think of a better example without reiterating a technical explanation of how bitcoin works), that's like asking if people living in the Sahara can't simply drink less water to solve the unavailability of fresh water. And even that's a bad comparison because the human body actually can actually make due with less water. Perhaps it's like an electric heater (not heat pump, just a plain old heater), if you know how these things work: if you make it use fewer Watts, you get less heat, because there is no "waste heat" because heat is what you want in the first place. So fewer Watts is always less heat no matter how you spin it.
Similarly, putting more power into Bitcoin makes you earn more money (as a miner). If we make the hashing algorithm more efficient, then the hash rate will just raise proportionally to meet the new supply (supply being the block reward + transaction fees, both in bitcoin (or whatever proof-of-work currency you're mining) that you receive when finding a block as a miner).
No, the alternative is moving away from proof of work. I've been hearing stuff about proof of stake for years now, and afaik there are some currencies already using it. Not sure why Bitcoin doesn't switch to it, I'm not keeping up. Lost interest back when it became clear what a disaster it is and that it won't be able to fulfill its original purpose anyway. I'm very surprised the price is still soaring, shouldn't the best currency win? I guess people just don't give a fuck about their non-direct impact and see it as a way to get rich quick.