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: 行為科學如何減少你的能源支出

Filmed:
1,182,944 views

減少能源支出的有效方法是什麼?你相信嗎:瞭解鄰居的能源支出情況。Alex Laskey以減少能源支出證明,一個奇妙的人類行為如何使我們成為更棒、更明智的能源使用者。
- 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許多 of you have checked檢查 your email電子郵件 today今天?
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在座有多少人今天查看過電子郵件?
00:15
Come on, raise提高 your hands.
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好,請舉手
00:17
How many許多 of you are checking檢查 it right now?
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有多少人現在正在查看?
00:19
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
00:20
And how about finances財政? Anybody任何人 check that today今天?
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金融帳戶呢?今天有人查看了嗎?
00:23
Credit信用 card, investment投資 account帳戶?
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信用卡、投資帳戶呢?
00:25
How about this week?
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本週內有看過的?
00:29
Now, how about your household家庭 energy能源 use?
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好,家庭能源使用情況呢?
00:32
Anybody任何人 check that today今天?
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今天有人查看過嗎?
00:34
This week? Last week?
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這星期或上星期?
00:38
A few少數 energy能源 geeks怪才 spread傳播 out across橫過 the room房間.
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現場有幾位能源達人
00:41
It's good to see you guys.
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很高興見到你們
00:44
But the rest休息 of us -- this is a room房間 filled填充 with people
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但其餘聽眾-這個房間裡擠滿
00:47
who are passionate多情 about the future未來 of this planet行星,
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關心地球未來的人
00:50
and even we aren't paying付款 attention注意
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即使我們這些人
00:52
to the energy能源 use that's driving主動 climate氣候 change更改.
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對導致氣候變化的能源使用都不甚在意
00:55
The woman女人 in the photo照片 with me is Harriet哈里特.
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這位與我合照的女士名叫 Harriet
00:58
We met會見 her on our first family家庭 vacation假期.
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我們是在第一次全家出遊時碰到她的
01:00
Harriet's哈麗特 paying付款 attention注意 to her energy能源 use,
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Harriet 十分關心能源使用情況
01:03
and she is decidedly果斷地 not an energy能源 geek極客.
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但她絕非能源達人
01:05
This is the story故事 of how Harriet哈里特 came來了 to pay工資 attention注意.
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我想分享的是
為何Harriet開始關心能源使用的故事
01:11
This is coal煤炭,
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這是煤炭
01:13
the most common共同 source資源 of electricity電力 on the planet行星,
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地球上最常見的電力來源
01:16
and there's enough足夠 energy能源 in this coal煤炭
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這些煤炭蘊藏足夠的能量
01:19
to light this bulb燈泡 for more than a year.
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可點亮這個燈泡超過一年
01:23
But unfortunately不幸, between之間 here and here,
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但不幸的是,從這裡到這裡
01:25
most of that energy能源 is lost丟失 to things
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大部分能量
01:27
like transmission傳輸 leakage洩漏 and heat.
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因傳導和熱能消耗等因素而流失
01:30
In fact事實, only 10 percent百分 ends結束 up as light.
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事實上,最後只有
10% 能量以光能形式呈現
01:33
So this coal煤炭 will last a little bit more than a month.
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因此這些煤炭僅能維持一個多月的照明
01:37
If you wanted to light this bulb燈泡 for a year,
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如果你想讓這個燈泡照明一年
01:40
you'd need this much coal煤炭.
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需使用這麼多煤炭
01:45
The bad news新聞 here is that, for every一切 unit單元 of energy能源 we use,
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壞消息是,每當我們使用一單位能量
01:48
we waste浪費 nine.
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即浪費九單位能量
01:50
That means手段 there's good news新聞,
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這意味著其中也有好消息
01:52
because for every一切 unit單元 of energy能源 we save保存,
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因為每當我們節省一單位能量
01:54
we save保存 the other nine.
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即省下其餘九單位能量
01:58
So the question is, how can we get the people in this room房間
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因此問題在於
我們如何使現場聽眾
02:03
and across橫過 the globe地球 to start開始 paying付款 attention注意
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及全世界的人開始關心
02:06
to the energy能源 we're using運用,
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我們所使用的能源
02:08
and start開始 wasting浪費 less of it?
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並開始減少能源浪費?
02:11
The answer回答 comes from a behavioral行為的 science科學 experiment實驗
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答案來自某個行為科學實驗
02:13
that was run one hot summer夏季, 10 years年份 ago,
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於十年前一個炎熱的夏天進行
02:17
and only 90 miles英里 from here,
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實驗場所位於距離這裡只有90英哩
02:19
in San Marcos馬科斯, California加州.
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的加州聖馬克斯
02:22
Graduate畢業 students學生們 put signs跡象 on every一切 door in a neighborhood鄰里,
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研究生在某街區的每扇門上貼紙條
02:25
asking people to turn off their air空氣 conditioning空調
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請住戶關上空調
02:28
and turn on their fans球迷.
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使用電扇
02:30
One quarter25美分硬幣 of the homes家園 received收到 a message信息 that said,
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四分之一住戶收到的訊息是
02:32
did you know you could save保存 54 dollars美元 a month this summer夏季?
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「知道嗎?
這個夏季你每月可省下54美元」
02:34
Turn off your air空氣 conditioning空調, turn on your fans球迷.
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「只要關上空調,使用電扇」
02:36
Another另一個 group got an environmental環境的 message信息.
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另一組收到的是與環保有關的訊息
02:38
And still a third第三 group got a message信息 about
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第三組收到的訊息是
02:40
being存在 good citizens公民, preventing防止 blackouts停電.
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「做個好公民,避免造成停電」
02:43
Most people guessed that money-saving省錢 message信息 would work best最好 of all.
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多數人預測節省開支的訊息效果最佳
02:47
In fact事實, none沒有 of these messages消息 worked工作.
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事實上,沒有一條訊息起作用
02:49
They had zero impact碰撞 on energy能源 consumption消費.
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它們對能源消耗情況沒有任何影響
02:52
It was as if the grad畢業 students學生們 hadn't有沒有 shown顯示 up at all.
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彷彿那些研究生從來沒有造訪過
02:56
But there was a fourth第四 message信息,
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但還有第四條訊息
02:58
and this message信息 simply只是 said,
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這條訊息只寫著
03:00
"When surveyed調查, 77 percent百分 of your neighbors鄰居
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「根據調查,你有 77 % 鄰居」
03:04
said that they turned轉身 off their air空氣 conditioning空調 and turned轉身 on their fans球迷.
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「說他們關上空調,使用電扇」
03:06
Please join加入 them. Turn off your air空氣 conditioning空調
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「請加入他們的行列,
03:08
and turn on your fans球迷."
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關上空調,使用電扇」
03:10
And wouldn't不會 you know it, they did.
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你們猜怎麼著?他們如法炮製
03:12
The people who received收到 this message信息
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收到這則訊息的人
03:14
showed顯示 a marked decrease減少 in energy能源 consumption消費
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顯著地減少了能源消耗
03:17
simply只是 by being存在 told what their neighbors鄰居 were doing.
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只因得知鄰居的做法
03:20
So what does this tell us?
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因此,這告訴我們什麼?
03:22
Well, if something is inconvenient不方便,
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好,如果某件事令人感到不便
03:24
even if we believe in it,
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即使我們深信不疑
03:26
moral道德 suasion勸告, financial金融 incentives獎勵, don't do much to move移動 us --
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道德勸說、經濟鼓勵
不會使我們產生多少動力
03:30
but social社會 pressure壓力, that's powerful強大 stuff東東.
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但社會壓力則是十分強大的力量
03:34
And harnessed駕馭 correctly正確地, it can be a powerful強大 force for good.
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若正確使用
可成為有益事物的強大力量
03:37
In fact事實, it already已經 is.
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確實如此
03:39
Inspired啟發 by this insight眼光, my friend朋友 Dan Yates耶茨 and I
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受到這個觀點的啟發,我和朋友 Dan Yates
03:42
started開始 a company公司 called OpowerOpower.
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成立一間名叫 Opower 的公司
03:44
We built內置 software軟件 and partnered合作 with utility效用 companies公司
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我們建構軟體,與希望幫助
03:47
who wanted to help their customers顧客 save保存 energy能源.
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顧客節約能源的公共事業公司合作
03:49
We deliver交付 personalized個性化 home energy能源 reports報告
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我們寄送個人化家庭能源報告
03:53
that show顯示 people how their consumption消費
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讓人們瞭解他們的能源消耗量
03:54
compares比較 to their neighbors鄰居 in similar-sized類似規模 homes家園.
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和擁有尺寸相近房屋之鄰居的比較值
03:57
Just like those effective有效 door hangers衣架,
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如同那些效果絕佳的門上留言
03:59
we have people comparing比較 themselves他們自己 to their neighbors鄰居,
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我們讓住戶與鄰居進行比較
04:02
and then we give everyone大家 targeted針對 recommendations建議
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然後給他們目標性建議
04:04
to help them save保存.
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幫助他們節約能源
04:06
We started開始 with paper, we moved移動 to a mobile移動 application應用,
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我們從紙本開始,發展到手機應用程式
04:08
web捲筒紙, and now even a controllable可控制 thermostat恆溫器,
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網路,甚至恒溫控制器
04:11
and for the last five years年份 we've我們已經 been running賽跑
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過去五年中,我們持續進行
04:13
the largest最大 behavioral行為的 science科學 experiment實驗 in the world世界.
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世上最大的行為科學實驗
04:18
And it's working加工.
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它確實有效
04:19
Ordinary普通 homeowners房主 and renters租房 have saved保存
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一般住戶及租屋者至今已省下
04:21
more than 250 million百萬 dollars美元 on their energy能源 bills票據,
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超過2億5千萬美元的能源支出
04:25
and we're just getting得到 started開始.
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這只是最初成效
04:26
This year alone單獨, in partnership合夥 with more than 80 utilities公用事業
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光是今年,我們與超過80個公共機構合作
04:29
in six countries國家, we're going to generate生成
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遍及六個國家,我們正致力於
04:32
another另一個 two terawatt太瓦 hours小時 of electricity電力 savings.
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額外節省2兆瓦小時用電量
04:35
Now, the energy能源 geeks怪才 in the room房間 know two terawatt太瓦 hours小時,
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好,現場的能源達人瞭解何謂2兆瓦小時
04:37
but for the rest休息 of us, two terawatt太瓦 hours小時
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但為了讓其餘聽眾瞭解,2兆瓦小時能量
04:39
is more than enough足夠 energy能源 to power功率 every一切 home
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足以供應聖路易斯及鹽湖城所有家庭
04:42
in St. Louis路易 and Salt Lake City combined結合
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足以供應聖路易斯及鹽湖城所有家庭
04:45
for more than a year.
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超過一年的用電量
04:47
Two terawatt太瓦 hours小時, it's roughly大致 half
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2兆瓦小時相當於
04:49
what the U.S. solar太陽能 industry行業 produced生成 last year.
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去年美國太陽能工業產量的一半
04:52
And two terawatt太瓦 hours小時? In terms條款 of coal煤炭,
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2兆瓦小時,以煤炭計算
04:55
we'd星期三 need to burn燒傷 34 of these wheelbarrows手推車
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每分鐘需燃燒相當於34輛手推車的煤炭
04:58
every一切 minute分鐘 around the clock時鐘 every一切 day for an entire整個 year
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持續燃燒一整年
05:02
to get two terawatt太瓦 hours小時 of electricity電力.
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才能產生2兆瓦小時電力
05:04
And we're not burning燃燒 anything.
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我們不需要燃燒任何東西
05:06
We're just motivating激勵 people to pay工資 attention注意
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我們只是促使人們關心能源問題
05:07
and change更改 their behavior行為.
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改變他們的行為
05:10
But we're just one company公司, and this is just
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但我們只是一家公司,
05:13
scratching搔抓 the surface表面.
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這只是初步嘗試
05:15
Twenty二十 percent百分 of the electricity電力 in homes家園 is wasted浪費,
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家用電力有 20% 遭到浪費
05:18
and when I say wasted浪費, I don't mean that people have
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我所謂的浪費,並非指人們使用
05:20
inefficient低效 lightbulbs電燈泡. They may可能.
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低效率燈泡,這無傷大雅
05:24
I mean we leave離開 the lights燈火 on in empty rooms客房,
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我指的是空無一人的房間仍亮著燈
05:27
and we leave離開 the air空氣 conditioning空調 on when nobody's沒有人是 home.
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家中空無一人時仍開著空調
05:30
That's 40 billion十億 dollars美元 a year wasted浪費
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這導致每年浪費價值400億美元的電力
05:33
on electricity電力 that does not contribute有助於 to our well-being福利
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這對生活來說不構成影響
05:36
but does contribute有助於 to climate氣候 change更改.
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卻足以導致氣候變化
05:39
That's 40 billion十億 -- with a B --
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400億美元
05:41
every一切 year in the U.S. alone單獨.
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僅是美國每年浪費的電力價值
05:43
That's half our coal煤炭 usage用法 right there.
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相當於我國一半的煤炭使用量
05:47
Now thankfully感激地, some of the world's世界 best最好 material材料 scientists科學家們
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現在,值得慶幸的是
一些世上最傑出的材料科學家
05:50
are looking to replace更換 coal煤炭 with sustainable可持續發展 resources資源
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正致力於尋找替代煤炭的可持續能源
05:53
like these,
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例如這些(風力發電)
05:54
and this is both fantastic奇妙 and essential必要.
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這是很棒且必要的
05:58
But the most overlooked忽視 resource資源 to get us
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但使我們邁向可持續能源的未來
06:00
to a sustainable可持續發展 energy能源 future未來, it isn't on this slide滑動.
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卻最被忽視的資源,
並未顯示在這張投影片上
06:03
It's in this room房間. It's you, and it's me.
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它在這個房間裡,那就是你們,還有我
06:08
And we can harness馬俱 this resource資源
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我們可以駕馭這種資源
06:11
with no new material材料 science科學
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不需使用新型材料科學技術
06:12
simply只是 by applying應用 behavioral行為的 science科學.
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只需應用行為科學
06:16
We can do it today今天, we know it works作品,
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我們可以從今天開始
我們知道它確實有效
06:18
and it will save保存 us money right away.
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可立即替我們省錢
06:21
So what are we waiting等候 for?
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那我們還等什麼?
06:24
Well, in most places地方, utility效用 regulation
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好,在大部分地區,公共事業的監管
06:27
hasn't有沒有 changed much since以來 Thomas托馬斯 Edison愛迪生.
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自愛迪生以來並無多大改變
06:31
Utilities公用事業 are still rewarded獎勵 when their customers顧客
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公共事業依然獎勵消費者
06:34
waste浪費 energy能源.
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浪費能源
06:36
They ought應該 to be rewarded獎勵 for helping幫助 their customers顧客 save保存 it.
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他們應該因幫助消費者節約能源而獲得獎勵
06:40
But this story故事 is much more than about household家庭 energy能源 use.
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但這個故事不僅是關於家庭能源的使用
06:43
Take a look at the Prius普銳斯.
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以Prius為例
(Toyota生產的油電混合動力車)
06:45
It's efficient高效 not only because Toyota豐田 invested投資 in material材料 science科學
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它的高效能不僅是因為
Toyota 投入材料科學研發
06:48
but because they invested投資 in behavioral行為的 science科學.
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也因為他們應用了行為科學
06:50
The dashboard儀表板 that shows節目 drivers司機 how much energy能源
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駕駛可從儀表板得知
06:53
they're saving保存 in real真實 time
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即時節約了多少能源
06:55
makes品牌 former前任的 speed速度 demons惡魔
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使之前的飆車大王
06:56
drive駕駛 more like cautious謹慎 grandmothers祖母.
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變得更像謹慎的祖母
06:59
Which哪一個 brings帶來 us back to Harriet哈里特.
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這讓我們的故事回到 Harriet 身上
07:01
We met會見 her on our first family家庭 vacation假期.
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我們是在第一次全家出遊活動中與她相遇
07:04
She came來了 over to meet遇到 my young年輕 daughter女兒,
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她上前來看我的小女兒
07:06
and she was tickled胳肢 to learn學習 that my daughter's女兒的 name名稱
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很高興知道
07:08
is also Harriet哈里特.
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我女兒也叫Harriet
07:10
She asked me what I did for a living活的,
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她問我從事什麼工作
07:11
and I told her, I work with utilities公用事業
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我告訴她,我與公共事業機構合作
07:13
to help people save保存 energy能源.
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協助人們節約能源
07:15
It was then that her eyes眼睛 lit發光的 up.
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此時她雙眼亮了起來
07:17
She looked看著 at me, and she said,
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她看著我說
07:19
"You're exactly究竟 the person I need to talk to.
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「你正是我想請教的人」
07:21
You see, two weeks ago, my husband丈夫 and I got a letter
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「你知道,兩星期前,我和丈夫收到一封信」
07:23
in the mail郵件 from our utility效用.
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「來自公共事業機構」
07:26
It told us we were using運用 twice兩次 as much energy能源 as our neighbors鄰居."
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「說我們使用的能源比鄰居多2倍」
07:29
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
07:32
"And for the last two weeks, all we can think about,
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「過去兩星期中,我們所思考的」
07:35
talk about, and even argue爭論 about,
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「討論的、甚至爭論的」
07:37
is what we should be doing to save保存 energy能源.
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「全是該怎麼做才能節約能源」
07:39
We did everything that letter told us to do,
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「我們依照信件指示一一實行」
07:42
and still I know there must必須 be more.
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「但我知道必定不只如此」
07:45
Now I'm here with a genuine真正 expert專家.
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「現在我身邊是一位如假包換的專家」
07:47
Tell me. What should I do to save保存 energy能源?"
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「請告訴我,怎麼做才能節約能源?」
07:51
There are many許多 experts專家 who can help answer回答 Harriet's哈麗特 question.
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有太多專家能回答 Harriet 的問題
07:55
My goal目標 is to make sure
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我的目標是確保
07:57
we are all asking it.
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每個人都會提出這個問題
08:00
Thank you.
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謝謝
08:01
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by illusion Hung
Reviewed by Ada Wang

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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