Furthermore, an effective system must be linked tightly to economics and, with its widespread adoption, be able to leverage social networks that impact behavioral norms. In this paper we make a bold attempt to fill this void. We propose a points system based
on energy that enables informed decisions across different domains of energy use and captures the total impact on sustainability, at least to the first order of accuracy. Although we focus our attention on energy and water, our methodology can be extended to include all scarce resources, including those embodied in products, as well as reflects the impact of externalities resulting from effluents. Our work hinges on the conjecture that quantitative intuition, coupled with visual feedback and appropriate incentives can bridge the reality/perception gap and provide the sustainability analogue check details of a points system find more used in a successful diet (Freedman 2011). Furthermore, the economic appeal of our proposal is enhanced through its direct link to oil prices. The constant visibility of oil prices increases awareness and serves as a natural choice to induce sustainable behavior (Ariely 2008), being an ideal platform for building ‘system one’ type intuition. Given its simplicity, transparency and visibility, the energy points system can become a universal translator—a Babel Fish—that will drive behavioral change.
The basic building block: an energy point Our basic unit of accounting is the primary energy1 (Annual Energy Review 2010) content of
a gallon of gasoline, which we define as an energy point (EP). The energy consumed while driving (gasoline), heating a building (natural gas), or operating a data center (electricity) are readily translated to EP and placed on a comparable scale. EP can be extended to include embodied energy in products, material use, and account for externalities due to effluents. Why choose a gallon of gasoline as our unit of measure? For most people, gasoline combines a familiar and ‘physical’ experience of energy with the visibility and ‘pain’ of cost at the pump. It connects to vital economic, national security, and environmental ALK assay concerns. The intuitive link to economics is simple and direct—via the price of oil. The high energy density of gasoline SPTLC1 of about 35 kWh/gallon (Davis et al. 2010) makes it the right scale to measure the meaningful impact of most day-to-day activities. Since we rate primary energy and our unit of measure is a gallon of gasoline, we need to take into account the losses that are incurred in the process of refining and transporting the primary energy to the refined product used by the end user. In the case of gasoline, average losses are estimated to be 17 % (DoE 2000). Therefore, in comparing to other primary energy sources, a gallon (1 EP) is rated as 42.2 kWh (=35/0.83) primary energy.