Proof of Stake algorithms, currently implemented by the Waves Platform, Lisk and (eventually) Ethereum, are vastly more power efficient than Proof of Work blockchains like Bitcoin.
Proof of Stake does not rely on hashing power (and therefore electricity) to gain consensus. Instead, nodes opt to be ‘forgers’ in the ecosystem by putting up a stake (or non-trivial amount of cryptocurrency). If these forgers play by the rules, they get a % of interest on their cryptocurrency annually. If they are caught cheating, they lose their stake to the network.
There is no unnecessary electricity usage for this algorithm, as the only compute being used is for handling transactions and building the blockchain. This is tiny compared to the amount of hashing power required by networks like Bitcoin today.
As more cryptocurrencies get released, more are relying on Proof of Stake to handle consensus, making them more environmentally friendly.
