ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alex Laskey - Energy software maker
Alex Laskey helps power companies to help their customers cut down -- using data analysis, marketing and a pinch of psychology.

Why you should listen

What's a powerful way to help people use less power at home? Pit them against their neighbors. As founder and president of Opower, Alex Laskey helps utlity companies show customers, right on their utility bills, where their own house sits on the spectrum of neighborhood energy wasters -- and how to beat the game. It seems silly, but the large-scale reductions in energy usage are no joke.

Opower works with more than 80 utilities on three continents, and serves over 15 million customers. Since its launch in 2008, it has cumulatively saved utility customers more than $200 million and 2 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy -- enough to power a city of more than a quarter million people. It's all through a powerful combination of behavioral science, data analytics and good marketing.

In the next twelve months, Opower is on track to save another 1 TWh, equivalent to more than one half the generation of the entire US solar power plant industry in 2011. In May 2016, Opower was bought by Oracle.

More profile about the speaker
Alex Laskey | Speaker | TED.com
TED2013

Alex Laskey: How behavioral science can lower your energy bill

Alex Laskey: 行为科学是怎样减少你的能源支出的?

Filmed:
1,182,944 views

减少你的能源消费,最行之有效的方法是什么?你能相信吗:看看你邻居支付了多少。Alex Laskey用更低价的能源账单来告诉我们,一个奇妙的人类行为是如何让我们这些使用者都变得更美好,更明智。
- Energy software maker
Alex Laskey helps power companies to help their customers cut down -- using data analysis, marketing and a pinch of psychology. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
How many许多 of you have checked检查 your email电子邮件 today今天?
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你们有几个人今天查看邮箱了?
00:15
Come on, raise提高 your hands.
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来吧,举起手来。
00:17
How many许多 of you are checking检查 it right now?
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又有多少人现在在查看?
00:19
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
00:20
And how about finances财政? Anybody任何人 check that today今天?
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资金账户呢?有人今天查看了没?
00:23
Credit信用 card, investment投资 account帐户?
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信用卡,投资账户?
00:25
How about this week?
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这个礼拜查看了么?
00:29
Now, how about your household家庭 energy能源 use?
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那么家庭能源使用情况呢?
00:32
Anybody任何人 check that today今天?
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有人今天查看那个了吗?
00:34
This week? Last week?
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这个礼拜?上个礼拜呢?
00:38
A few少数 energy能源 geeks怪才 spread传播 out across横过 the room房间.
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这个房间中有一些能源极客。
00:41
It's good to see you guys.
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很高兴见到你们。
00:44
But the rest休息 of us -- this is a room房间 filled填充 with people
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但是剩下的我们,这是一个全是人的房间,
00:47
who are passionate多情 about the future未来 of this planet行星,
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这些人对这个星球的未来充满热情,
00:50
and even we aren't paying付款 attention注意
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但是甚至我们都不关心
00:52
to the energy能源 use that's driving主动 climate气候 change更改.
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导致气候变暖的能源消耗
00:55
The woman女人 in the photo照片 with me is Harriet哈里特.
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这张照片中和我在一起的女性是Harriet。
00:58
We met会见 her on our first family家庭 vacation假期.
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在我们第一次家庭度假的时候,我们见到了她。
01:00
Harriet's哈丽特 paying付款 attention注意 to her energy能源 use,
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Harriet正在关注她的能源使用情况,
01:03
and she is decidedly果断地 not an energy能源 geek极客.
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毫无疑问,她并不是能源极客。
01:05
This is the story故事 of how Harriet哈里特 came来了 to pay工资 attention注意.
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这是Harriet为什么会关注能源的故事。
01:11
This is coal煤炭,
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这是煤炭,
01:13
the most common共同 source资源 of electricity电力 on the planet行星,
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这个星球上最常见的电力能源,
01:16
and there's enough足够 energy能源 in this coal煤炭
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这些煤炭中有足够多的能量,
01:19
to light this bulb灯泡 for more than a year.
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可以让这个灯泡亮一年还多。
01:23
But unfortunately不幸, between之间 here and here,
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不幸的是,在从这里到这里过程中,
01:25
most of that energy能源 is lost丢失 to things
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这种能量大部分都因为,
01:27
like transmission传输 leakage泄漏 and heat.
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传导流失和放热而丢失了。
01:30
In fact事实, only 10 percent百分 ends结束 up as light.
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事实上,只有10%的能量最后以光能的形式释放。
01:33
So this coal煤炭 will last a little bit more than a month.
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所以这块煤炭最多只能够维持一个月多一点。
01:37
If you wanted to light this bulb灯泡 for a year,
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如果你想要让这个灯泡照明一年,
01:40
you'd need this much coal煤炭.
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你需要这么多煤炭。
01:45
The bad news新闻 here is that, for every一切 unit单元 of energy能源 we use,
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坏消息是,我们每用一成的能量,
01:48
we waste浪费 nine.
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我们就会浪费九成。
01:50
That means手段 there's good news新闻,
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这也意味着有好消息,
01:52
because for every一切 unit单元 of energy能源 we save保存,
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就是我们每节约一成的能量,
01:54
we save保存 the other nine.
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我们就节约了剩下的九成。
01:58
So the question is, how can we get the people in this room房间
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问题是,我们如何让在这个房间里的人们
02:03
and across横过 the globe地球 to start开始 paying付款 attention注意
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以及全世界的人们开始关注
02:06
to the energy能源 we're using运用,
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我们所使用的能量,
02:08
and start开始 wasting浪费 less of it?
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并且开始减少浪费?
02:11
The answer回答 comes from a behavioral行为的 science科学 experiment实验
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答案来自于一个行为科学实验,
02:13
that was run one hot summer夏季, 10 years年份 ago,
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是十年前一个炎热的夏天进行的,
02:17
and only 90 miles英里 from here,
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离这儿只有90英里地方,
02:19
in San Marcos马科斯, California加州.
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在California的San Marcos。
02:22
Graduate毕业 students学生们 put signs迹象 on every一切 door in a neighborhood邻里,
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研究生们在某个街区的每一扇门上做了留言条,
02:25
asking people to turn off their air空气 conditioning空调
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告诉人们关掉空调
02:28
and turn on their fans球迷.
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打开电扇。
02:30
One quarter25美分硬币 of the homes家园 received收到 a message信息 that said,
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四分之一的家庭收到了一条留言说,
02:32
did you know you could save保存 54 dollars美元 a month this summer夏季?
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你知道吗?这个夏天你可以每月节约54美元
02:34
Turn off your air空气 conditioning空调, turn on your fans球迷.
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只要关掉空调,使用电扇。
02:36
Another另一个 group got an environmental环境的 message信息.
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另一组收到的是环境方面的留言。
02:38
And still a third第三 group got a message信息 about
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第三组得到的留言是
02:40
being存在 good citizens公民, preventing防止 blackouts停电.
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做一个文明公民,防止停电。
02:43
Most people guessed that money-saving省钱 message信息 would work best最好 of all.
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大部分人认为节约开支的留言将会最有效应。
02:47
In fact事实, none没有 of these messages消息 worked工作.
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事实上,没有一条留言起到作用。
02:49
They had zero impact碰撞 on energy能源 consumption消费.
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他们对于能源消耗没有任何影响。
02:52
It was as if the grad毕业 students学生们 hadn't有没有 shown显示 up at all.
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就好像研究生们并没有贴过这些留言条一样。
02:56
But there was a fourth第四 message信息,
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但是有第四条留言,
02:58
and this message信息 simply只是 said,
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这条留言简单地写着,
03:00
"When surveyed调查, 77 percent百分 of your neighbors邻居
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“调查发现,你们77%的邻居们说
03:04
said that they turned转身 off their air空气 conditioning空调 and turned转身 on their fans球迷.
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他们关掉了空调,开始使用电扇。
03:06
Please join加入 them. Turn off your air空气 conditioning空调
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请加入他们。关掉空调,
03:08
and turn on your fans球迷."
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打开电扇。”
03:10
And wouldn't不会 you know it, they did.
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你们信不信?他们做到了!
03:12
The people who received收到 this message信息
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收到这条留言的人们
03:14
showed显示 a marked decrease减少 in energy能源 consumption消费
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显著地减少了能源消耗。
03:17
simply只是 by being存在 told what their neighbors邻居 were doing.
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只是因为告知了他们,邻居在做什么。
03:20
So what does this tell us?
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这告诉我们什么呢?
03:22
Well, if something is inconvenient不方便,
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好吧,如果某些事情有些不便,
03:24
even if we believe in it,
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即使我们相信它,
03:26
moral道德 suasion劝告, financial金融 incentives奖励, don't do much to move移动 us --
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道德劝说,经济鼓励,并不会让我们行动起来,
03:30
but social社会 pressure压力, that's powerful强大 stuff东东.
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但是社会压力,是强悍的。
03:34
And harnessed驾驭 correctly正确地, it can be a powerful强大 force for good.
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正确地利用的话,它可以成为强大的正能量。
03:37
In fact事实, it already已经 is.
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事实上,它已经是了。
03:39
Inspired启发 by this insight眼光, my friend朋友 Dan Yates耶茨 and I
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受此启发,我和我的朋友Dan Yates开始
03:42
started开始 a company公司 called OpowerOpower.
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筹划一个公司,叫”Opower“。
03:44
We built内置 software软件 and partnered合作 with utility效用 companies公司
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我们开发软件并且与公共事业公司合作,
03:47
who wanted to help their customers顾客 save保存 energy能源.
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这些公司也想要帮助他们的客户节约能源。
03:49
We deliver交付 personalized个性化 home energy能源 reports报告
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我们发表个性化的家庭能源报导,
03:53
that show显示 people how their consumption消费
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向人们展示他们的消耗量
03:54
compares比较 to their neighbors邻居 in similar-sized类似规模 homes家园.
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与住房大小相似的邻居比较。
03:57
Just like those effective有效 door hangers衣架,
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就像那些有效的挂在门上的留言条一样,
03:59
we have people comparing比较 themselves他们自己 to their neighbors邻居,
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我们让人们把他们自己与邻居相比,
04:02
and then we give everyone大家 targeted针对 recommendations建议
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然后给出目标性的建议。
04:04
to help them save保存.
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帮助他们节约。
04:06
We started开始 with paper, we moved移动 to a mobile移动 application应用,
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我们从纸张开始,然后是手机应用,
04:08
web卷筒纸, and now even a controllable可控制 thermostat恒温器,
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网络,现在甚至是可控恒温器,
04:11
and for the last five years年份 we've我们已经 been running赛跑
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在过去的五年中,我们已经开始
04:13
the largest最大 behavioral行为的 science科学 experiment实验 in the world世界.
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启动世界上最大的行为科学实验。
04:18
And it's working加工.
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它起效了。
04:19
Ordinary普通 homeowners房主 and renters租房 have saved保存
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普通的房主和租房者已经在他们的能源账单上
04:21
more than 250 million百万 dollars美元 on their energy能源 bills票据,
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节约了超过250美金
04:25
and we're just getting得到 started开始.
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我们才刚刚开始。
04:26
This year alone单独, in partnership合伙 with more than 80 utilities公用事业
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就今年,与超过80个公共机构的合作,
04:29
in six countries国家, we're going to generate生成
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分布于六个国家,我们正在努力省下
04:32
another另一个 two terawatt太瓦 hours小时 of electricity电力 savings.
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再两个太瓦小时(1亿度)的电量。
04:35
Now, the energy能源 geeks怪才 in the room房间 know two terawatt太瓦 hours小时,
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现在,屋子里的能源极客们知道两个太瓦小时,
04:37
but for the rest休息 of us, two terawatt太瓦 hours小时
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但是对于剩下的我们而言,
04:39
is more than enough足够 energy能源 to power功率 every一切 home
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两个太瓦小时可以足足让
04:42
in St. Louis路易 and Salt Lake City combined结合
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St. Louis和Salt Lake City的每户人家
04:45
for more than a year.
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用上一年还多。
04:47
Two terawatt太瓦 hours小时, it's roughly大致 half
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两个太瓦小时,大约是去年
04:49
what the U.S. solar太阳能 industry行业 produced生成 last year.
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美国太阳能工厂年产量的一半。
04:52
And two terawatt太瓦 hours小时? In terms条款 of coal煤炭,
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两个太瓦小时,换成煤炭的话,
04:55
we'd星期三 need to burn烧伤 34 of these wheelbarrows手推车
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我们需要每分钟燃烧34辆这种独轮手推车的煤炭,
04:58
every一切 minute分钟 around the clock时钟 every一切 day for an entire整个 year
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每小时60分钟,每天24小时,每年365天。
05:02
to get two terawatt太瓦 hours小时 of electricity电力.
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才能得到两个太瓦小时的能量。
05:04
And we're not burning燃烧 anything.
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然而我们并不在燃烧任何东西,
05:06
We're just motivating激励 people to pay工资 attention注意
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我们只是激发人们关注
05:07
and change更改 their behavior行为.
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并且改变他们的行为。
05:10
But we're just one company公司, and this is just
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但我们只是一家公司,
05:13
scratching搔抓 the surface表面.
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这些都还只是杯水车薪。
05:15
Twenty二十 percent百分 of the electricity电力 in homes家园 is wasted浪费,
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一户人家中有20%的能量是被浪费掉的,
05:18
and when I say wasted浪费, I don't mean that people have
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当我说浪费的时候,我并不是指人们
05:20
inefficient低效 lightbulbs电灯泡. They may可能.
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装了一些没用的灯泡。他们可以有。
05:24
I mean we leave离开 the lights灯火 on in empty rooms客房,
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我是指我们让没人的屋子里亮着灯,
05:27
and we leave离开 the air空气 conditioning空调 on when nobody's没有人是 home.
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我们仍然在家里没人的时候开着空调。
05:30
That's 40 billion十亿 dollars美元 a year wasted浪费
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那每年浪费的400亿美金
05:33
on electricity电力 that does not contribute有助于 to our well-being福利
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并没有为全面建设小康社会作出贡献,
05:36
but does contribute有助于 to climate气候 change更改.
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但是会导致气候改变。
05:39
That's 40 billion十亿 -- with a B --
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那是400亿美金,yì~~~亿
05:41
every一切 year in the U.S. alone单独.
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单单在美国。
05:43
That's half our coal煤炭 usage用法 right there.
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我们一半的煤炭被用在那儿了。
05:47
Now thankfully感激地, some of the world's世界 best最好 material材料 scientists科学家们
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现在,十分的庆幸,一些世界上最好的材料科学家们
05:50
are looking to replace更换 coal煤炭 with sustainable可持续发展 resources资源
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正在寻找代替煤炭的可持续能源。
05:53
like these,
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像这些,
05:54
and this is both fantastic奇妙 and essential必要.
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这是令人惊奇的也是必须的。
05:58
But the most overlooked忽视 resource资源 to get us
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但是大部分的被忽视的资源带领我们
06:00
to a sustainable可持续发展 energy能源 future未来, it isn't on this slide滑动.
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来到可持续能源的未来,并不在这个银幕上。
06:03
It's in this room房间. It's you, and it's me.
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在这个房间里,是你们,也是我。
06:08
And we can harness马具 this resource资源
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我们可以利用这种资源
06:11
with no new material材料 science科学
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不必使用最新的材料科学技术。
06:12
simply只是 by applying应用 behavioral行为的 science科学.
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只需要简单地使用行为科学。
06:16
We can do it today今天, we know it works作品,
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我们今天就可以做到,我们知道它是如何运转的,
06:18
and it will save保存 us money right away.
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它可以立即节约我们的金钱。
06:21
So what are we waiting等候 for?
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那我们还在等什么?
06:24
Well, in most places地方, utility效用 regulation
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好吧,在大多数地方,调节利用
06:27
hasn't有没有 changed much since以来 Thomas托马斯 Edison爱迪生.
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自从爱迪生时代并没有改变太多,。
06:31
Utilities公用事业 are still rewarded奖励 when their customers顾客
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公共事业机构一直因为客户浪费能源
06:34
waste浪费 energy能源.
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而受到奖励。
06:36
They ought应该 to be rewarded奖励 for helping帮助 their customers顾客 save保存 it.
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而他们应该因帮助客户们节约能源而被奖励。
06:40
But this story故事 is much more than about household家庭 energy能源 use.
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但这个故事远不止是关于家庭的能源使用。
06:43
Take a look at the Prius普锐斯.
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看看这辆丰田普锐斯。
06:45
It's efficient高效 not only because Toyota丰田 invested投资 in material材料 science科学
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它十分地高效不单单是因为丰田投资了材料科学,
06:48
but because they invested投资 in behavioral行为的 science科学.
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而是因为他们投资了行为科学。
06:50
The dashboard仪表板 that shows节目 drivers司机 how much energy能源
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仪表盘告诉驾驶员们
06:53
they're saving保存 in real真实 time
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他们实时节约了多少能量。
06:55
makes品牌 former前任的 speed速度 demons恶魔
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使之前的速度魔鬼
06:56
drive驾驶 more like cautious谨慎 grandmothers祖母.
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变得更像谨慎的祖母。
06:59
Which哪一个 brings带来 us back to Harriet哈里特.
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这把我们带回到Harriet的故事中。
07:01
We met会见 her on our first family家庭 vacation假期.
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我们在第一次家庭度假的时候遇见了她。
07:04
She came来了 over to meet遇到 my young年轻 daughter女儿,
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她走过来看看我的小女儿,
07:06
and she was tickled胳肢 to learn学习 that my daughter's女儿的 name名称
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她很高兴地了解到我女儿的名字
07:08
is also Harriet哈里特.
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也是Harriet。
07:10
She asked me what I did for a living活的,
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她问我是什么工作的,
07:11
and I told her, I work with utilities公用事业
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我告诉她,我与公共事业单位一起工作
07:13
to help people save保存 energy能源.
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来帮助人们节约能源。
07:15
It was then that her eyes眼睛 lit发光的 up.
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就在那时她的眼睛发亮了。
07:17
She looked看着 at me, and she said,
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她看着我说,
07:19
"You're exactly究竟 the person I need to talk to.
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“你正是我想要与之交流的人,
07:21
You see, two weeks ago, my husband丈夫 and I got a letter
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你看,两个礼拜前,我丈夫和我收到了一封信,
07:23
in the mail邮件 from our utility效用.
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从我们的公共事业机构那儿。
07:26
It told us we were using运用 twice两次 as much energy能源 as our neighbors邻居."
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告诉我们使用的能源是我们邻居的2倍多。”
07:29
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
07:32
"And for the last two weeks, all we can think about,
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“在过去的两个礼拜中,所有我们思考的,
07:35
talk about, and even argue争论 about,
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讨论的,甚至争论的,
07:37
is what we should be doing to save保存 energy能源.
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都是我们应该做什么来节约能源。
07:39
We did everything that letter told us to do,
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我们做了信件告诉我们的每一件事,
07:42
and still I know there must必须 be more.
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我知道一定还有更多。
07:45
Now I'm here with a genuine真正 expert专家.
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现在我和一个真正的专家站在这儿。
07:47
Tell me. What should I do to save保存 energy能源?"
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告诉我。我该做什么才能节约能源?”
07:51
There are many许多 experts专家 who can help answer回答 Harriet's哈丽特 question.
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有很多专家可以回答Harriet的问题。
07:55
My goal目标 is to make sure
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我的目标是确保
07:57
we are all asking it.
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人人都在这么问。
08:00
Thank you.
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谢谢。
08:01
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Kanari Liu
Reviewed by Tony Li

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alex Laskey - Energy software maker
Alex Laskey helps power companies to help their customers cut down -- using data analysis, marketing and a pinch of psychology.

Why you should listen

What's a powerful way to help people use less power at home? Pit them against their neighbors. As founder and president of Opower, Alex Laskey helps utlity companies show customers, right on their utility bills, where their own house sits on the spectrum of neighborhood energy wasters -- and how to beat the game. It seems silly, but the large-scale reductions in energy usage are no joke.

Opower works with more than 80 utilities on three continents, and serves over 15 million customers. Since its launch in 2008, it has cumulatively saved utility customers more than $200 million and 2 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy -- enough to power a city of more than a quarter million people. It's all through a powerful combination of behavioral science, data analytics and good marketing.

In the next twelve months, Opower is on track to save another 1 TWh, equivalent to more than one half the generation of the entire US solar power plant industry in 2011. In May 2016, Opower was bought by Oracle.

More profile about the speaker
Alex Laskey | Speaker | TED.com