A cryptocurrency called 'Chia' is gaining attention as an eco-friendly alternative to other digital assets like Bitcoin, which has drawn concern about their impact on climate change, said CNN Business.

This is because Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies such as Etherium, use a "proof of work" protocol to verify transactions and mine new instances. Essentially, it works by  proving a certain amount of computational effort has been expended for some purpose. The specifics can vary from one cryptocurrency to another, but the general idea is the same for all of them. Because it relies on a certain amount of computational effort to be expended, this means verifying transactions and generating new tokens is very energy intensive. It is estimated that BItcoin alone accounts for roughly 0.6 percent of the entire world's energy consumption, putting its energy use on par with nation states like Sri Lanka or Jordan.

Chia, on the other hand, uses what's called a "proofs of space and time" protocol. Instead of having to proof a certain amount of computational energy was expended to generate a new token or verify existing ones, this protocol requires miners show that they have been physically storing data over a certain period of time. While this still consumes power, it's much more energy efficient than the current popular coins. Whether it one day becomes as widely traded remains to be seen.