If the block had zero transactions in it, it still would have cost just as much energy to create. Similarly, if the price of the coin were 1/1000th but the blo

If the block had zero transactions in it, it still would have cost just as much energy to create. Similarly, if the price of the coin were 1/1000th but the block were full, it would have cost 1/1000th the price to confirm those transactions. What determines the cost/mining reward of a block is not the transactions in it, but the value of the chain as a whole.