In that light, and given the ludicrous power estimates that blockchains use, are we not morally obligated to kill all the blockchain projects if these estimates are in the right ballpark?
But, you are right, even that enormous inefficiency is peanuts compared to the Proof of Waste, which ramps it up to unimaginable proportions. (A single BTC transaction uses up as much electricity as a 2 person household in Germany in a year, and produces 2 iPhones worth of electronic waste.)
(sorry i intended this as a reply to a different comment, not yours, not sure how i did that!)
This looks to be the case now, with block reward being dominated by the block subsidy. But by design, the latter reduces exponentially over time, so that within a few decades, the security will have to come predominantly from transaction fees.
Some people feel strongly this security is worth it. Some feel strongly that it isn’t (but one suspects their objection is really to the lack of central control)