Physics, Ecology, Mathematics and Engineering of the Negawatt Economy: A Formal Architecture for Verified Energy Conservation
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The contribution is a formal issuance architecture for verified energy conservation. The Negawatt (NWT) is the registry denomination of that conservation: one NWT equals one megawatt-hour (1 MWh) accepted under Proof of Conservation. In this paper, energy conservation means measured and verified avoided energy use relative to an adjusted baseline; it does not mean the First-Law conservation-of-energy principle. Kilowatt-hours remain the operational unit of practice; one thousand verified kilowatt-hours constitute one NWT. The architecture is situated in four registers: classical thermodynamics and information physics; systems ecology; a classified set of accounting equations; and a measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) chain specified at the level of principle. The Negentropy Yield is the continuous expression of verified energy conservation. Its period-total form, formalised in this paper and consistent with the Protocol, is the same quantity implemented for issuance. Analytic overlays (the boundary-dependent Negawatt Multiplier, its lifecycle special case, carbon class, and ecological scores) may describe upstream or contextual consequences. They do not rescale the minted MWh. One NWT is denominationally equivalent to any other NWT; it is not thereby economically, carbon-, or locationally equivalent. Established physics (the First and Second Laws, Carnot’s bound, exergy destruction, Schrödinger’s discussion of negative entropy, Landauer’s bound, Prigogine’s dissipative structures) and established ecology (Lindeman, Lotka, Odum, Holling, Lovelock/Daisyworld) are lineage, not new laws. Deep Solar Time is introduced as a proposed construct; the Deep Time Solar Equation is a prospective formalism, not an issuance equation. Proof of Conservation is an evidence chain, not a claim that blockchain is physically necessary. The paper does not invent saved-energy certificates or primary-energy factors. It integrates verified claim-period conservation into a non-rescalable registry denomination. It does not claim operational or jurisprudential closure.
DOI: 10.31223/x5q511
Author: Nigel Grier
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214485004