¹ Watson et al. 2010, p. 25.

The major energy system technologies are flow networks, sensor networks, and sensitized objects. “A flow network is a set of connected transport components that supports the movement of continuous matter (e.g. electricity, oil, air, water) or discrete objects

(e.g. cars, packages, containers, and people).” (Watson et al. 2010, p. 26). Flow net-works play a central role in any economic activity and especially in this field optimization techniques lead to more efficiency and to a reduction of energy. “A sensor network provides information for the optimization and management of flow networks.”(Watson et al. 2010, p. 29) and a sensitized object “is a physical good that a consumer owns or manages and has the capability to sense and report data about its use”. (Watson et al. 2010, p. 26).