With the power requirements to run the BTC network continually increasing... what is the long term solution? It doesn't seem viable that it can go on forever like this. Anyone have good insight? It's easy to just assume... "well there will be cheaper energy in the future" or "BTC will just switch to POS".... I guess I'm looking for answers with a little more substance and detail. Thanks!
This is actually a very valid concern though we have to realize that all industries are consuming electricity and Bitcoin is not exempted, of course. However, further developments have to focus on how to turn those mining rigs to consume less power. I am sure that later on there would be mining rigs that are already power-efficient because there is a demand for this. We need to have those mining equipment replacing the ones we are currently using. We also have to encourage more miners to use sustainable energy sources as a way to lessen the Bitcoin impact to the environment as should all industries we have globally.
Making "mining rigs to consume less power" has no effect on the total amount of energy used by the Bitcoin system because miners will just buy more rigs.
See
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2465881.0Also note that miners will always use the cheapest form of energy. If electricity from renewable sources is cheaper they will use that. If electricity from burning coal is cheaper they will use that. If the cheapest electricity comes from nuclear power plants they will use that.