根據一項研究，公眾認為的最有效的節能策略不是能源專家推薦的策略。Shahzeen Z. Attari及其同事對505位受試者調查了各種類型的家居、交通和回收活動的能源消耗以及節能。當受試者被要求指出「最有效的」節能方式的時候，大多數人回答了減少能源使用的策略，諸如關燈。
然而，大多數能源專家建議通過安裝能效高的光源和電器的方式改善能效。該調查還包括了設計用于衡量公眾對於具體的家用電器的能源需求以及節能潛力的認識的問題。這組科學家發現，儘管接受調查的大多數人能夠正確地找出高耗能電器，他們極大地低估了這些電器使用的能量以及能效改善實際能夠帶來的節能數量。這組作者提出，為了幫助人們做出關於能源使用的知情決策，可以通過和關於氣候變化的大眾傳播聯繫起來，從而解決關於能源消耗以及節能的誤解。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1001509107
Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings
Shahzeen Z. Attari a , 1 , Michael L. DeKay b , Cliff I. Davidson c , d , 2 , and W?ndi Bruine de Bruin c , e
aThe Earth Institute and Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027;
bDepartment of Psychology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210; and
Departments of cEngineering and Public Policy,
dCivil and Environmental Engineering, and
eSocial and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
In a national online survey, 505 participants reported their perceptions of energy consumption and savings for a variety of household, transportation, and recycling activities. When asked for the most effective strategy they could implement to conserve energy, most participants mentioned curtailment (e.g., turning off lights, driving less) rather than efficiency improvements (e.g., installing more efficient light bulbs and appliances), in contrast to experts』 recommendations. For a sample of 15 activities, participants underestimated energy use and savings by a factor of 2.8 on average, with small overestimates for low-energy activities and large underestimates for high-energy activities. Additional estimation and ranking tasks also yielded relatively flat functions for perceived energy use and savings. Across several tasks, participants with higher numeracy scores and stronger proenvironmental attitudes had more accurate perceptions. The serious deficiencies highlighted by these results suggest that well-designed efforts to improve the public's understanding of energy use and savings could pay large dividends.