Is there a substantial basis for the claim that the total energy of our universe is zero? I just read a bit of Hawking's writing in which he comes to this conclusion through inflation theory, but i felt that his finding was possibly biased towards inflation theory.
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No, there isn't, but there are plenty of things which sell well for which there is no substantial basis. On the other hand, there is no evidence for the opposite either, and it's not even clear if it would matter. What would you do if an alien told you that the total energy of the universe is 42J? – CuriousOne Apr 07 '16 at 04:37
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In a flat universe the total energy is zero, and there is observational evidence that the universe is, at least, very nearly flat. Lawrence Krauss discusses this topic in his book A Universe From Nothing. – lemon Apr 07 '16 at 10:46