§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his Department's assessment of the potential for energy conservation due to microprocessors (a) in transportation and (b) in combustion.
§ Mr. John Moore(a) We estimate that microprocessor technology, if used to its maximum extent and applied to vehicle systems in conjunction with developed sensors and allied equipments—air/fuel optimisation-electronic ignition, continuously-variable transmission—has an overall energy conservation potential of some 5 million tonnes of oil per annum. In the short term, the wider application of microelectronics and automatic control in both the vehicle and traffic control fields might produce a lesser but nevertheless worthwhile reduction of roughly 2 million tonnes of oil per annum. Total oil consumption by road transport at present is some 25 million tonnes.
(b) Over half of all primary energy consumption in the United Kingdom takes place in boilers or furnaces. The application of microprocessor control in this combustion field where it is not already in use could probably save 2 million to 3 million tonnes or so of oil equivalent, but not all of this potential is attainable within normal commercial constraints.