Philosophy and Ethics of Energy Development. What are the most general questions concerning our attitudes to energy technologies?

Energy production and energy facilities and projects are based on scientific knowledge and they require employment of various kinds of technologies. This links energy development with a more general view of natural sciences and technologies and their function in contemporary advanced societies. The impact of technologies on everyday lives of individuals, groups and communities has been growing unprecedentedly in recent decades. It does not matter whether we like it or not, whether we are techno-enthusiasts or technophobes - sophisticated technologies permeate our daily activities and businesses. We depend on them vitally in areas of communication, information management, transportation, housing, factory production or medical care, to name at least the most obvious ones. In this regard, energy technologies represent a piece of a more complex web of infrastructures securing smooth operation of our societies. However, energy production is the crucial piece, because continuous energy supply is a precondition for the majority of other activities or processes to take place.