Gold needs energy to survive. It takes energy to mine it. It takes energy to refine it. It takes energy to transport it. Even if all the gold was mined, refined, and transported just sitting there, you still need energy to trade it, whether electonically or physically.
Nah, gold also needs energy to be traded. I can hold a bunch of BTC in a flash drivenfor years, without spending any energy, until I decide to trade them or use them. Same thing with gold. Once you want to trade or use it, there's energy involved in determining its purity, selling it, buying it, melting it and so on.