[marcinjachymiak]

There absolutely is more nuance to this and you seem to be missing all of it.

> the consumption of electricity is not a side effect, it's the whole point.

The OP would argue that it's about the consumption of resources in general. The interesting point of discussion here is CAPEX vs. OPEX dynamics in mining. The CAPEX of creating ASICs is a huge factor in Bitcoin mining.

One of the arguments for using photonic ASICs for mining is that it actually decreases centralization in hardware manufacturing. Photonic circuits are printed using older processes which are cheaper and more widely available than 5nm ASICs that will be made for Bitcoin.

I recommend you read the paper linked by the OP or watch his talk. Personally I don't know if I really believe in the idea, but there are definitely interesting points being made that are worth studying.