PREFACE
This report documents the results of a study conducted for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) on how the Internet and related information and
communications technologies (ICTs) may influence future supply,
demand, and delivery of electricity in the United States. The DOE
needs a better understanding of the important factors driving the
transition toward a digital society and the likely changes that it will
bring about—both to make better estimates of future energy requirements and to inform planning for its long-term energy R&D
portfolio.
Rather than attempt to make specific technology forecasts in a
rapidly changing and highly uncertain environment, this study developed four different scenarios of ICT evolution over the 20-year
period 2001–2021 and explored their implications for U.S. electricity
requirements. The results are compared to the electricity use projections made by the DOE Energy Information Administration (EIA) and
then discussed in relation to the R&D portfolio of the Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
RAND SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
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corporate decisionmakers in developing options to address challenges created by scientific innovation, rapid technological change,
and world events. RAND S&T’s research agenda is diverse. Its main
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Electricity Requirements for a Digital Society
areas of concentration are science and technology aspects of energy
supply and use; environmental studies; transportation planning;
space and aerospace issues; information infrastructure; biotechnology; and the federal R&D portfolio.
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