CHIA Network - Is this the sustainable blockchain solution?

In February this year CHIA released their whitepaper and what they believed to be a possible answer to a more sustainable blockchain. The organization website is linked below and I urge you to take a look for yourself.

CHIA network is a blockchain and smart transaction platform which was created by one of the founders of bit torrent called Bram Cohen. It implements the first new Nakamoto consensus algorithm since Bitcoin in 2008 and looks to solve the current blockchain sustainability issues through a Proof Of Space consensus. This means that unlike POW (proof of work) and POS (proof of stake) blockchains, it bases its concepts of hard disk storage space rather than computational power. The above website details the white paper and how the fundamentals of the network work, which is very new tech in the space and well worth a read.

However is this the answer to the 'green bitcoin' and is this something that will look to help improve sustainability as a whole moving forward?

In short at current state this is not the answer to our problems unfortunately. The proof of storage concept although takes the main issues of using large amounts of power to provide consensus on the blockchain, does however create other issues. For instance the amount of energy being produced and how it is being produced to power blockchains is being looked at by many as the main way of moving forward. This is for various reasons, but in my opinion the main reason has a lot has to do with security and safety of these blockchains. So moving forward these already more adopted blockchains can do lots to improve and they are already being utilized by communities and industries alike. By creating this new consensus with Proof of Space, it will mean a high amount of space will need to be required. It is clear from articles I have already seen in the cryptosphere that there is going to be a huge amount of demand on hard drive space moving forward and the demand for space will in turn create a whole new waste stream, where e-waste from storage devices will hit all time highs. Also we will have to still create and power factories to make these storage capacity devices into the future.

Although this concept is a step in the right direction, its future will depend highly on its interoperability with other blockchains moving forward and how the team behind the white paper plan to utilize this concept into the future. We can only watch the space the now at present and see what happens over the next year of adoption on the CHIA Network. The principles of the technology is definitely greener than POW and POS blockchains in place, however will storage wars become a thing of the future and will this also create a more centralized blockchain as companies produce large storage plants moving forward?