ABSTRACT

The very rapid increase in the power, and decrease in price, of electronic computing devices is having a major impact in most parts of modern society. The pace of development made possible by new technology, (at present it is the era of the silicon chip), has accelerated particularly in the last couple of years and seems set to continue. The power is now sufficiently cheap and adaptable to be distributed widely which not only improves processing efficiency but directly involves a very much larger number of people than hitherto possible. In the past, the computer tended to be an expensive piece of equipment operated in isolation from most of us. Reliability (with reduction in mechanised parts), speed, storage capacity, and flexibility to match user demands is bringing the computer into every walk of life. Information processing and communication so pervades modern society that electronics are indirectly effecting energy supply and conservation by altering the pattern of human behaviour, as well as having a direct impact in specific applications. On the one hand, the information processing and communication activity is being carried out more efficiently and has led to recently expressed fears of accelerating unemployment. On the other hand, society is creating better information in the sense that timely and useful information is becoming available for improved decision making. Not only can improved decisions be made in all parts of the economy with the aid of electronic computing but some of the hitherto intractable problems of great complexity can now be solved. Because of the pervasiveness of the developments it is not possible to accurately assess the overall impact of the electronic computer on energy supply and conservation. However, a number of developments can be identified which will in one way or another have an energy impact.