The need for increasing the world's energy supply to support a continuously increasing world population with natural aspirations for a better way of life is now apparent to most thoughtful people. Accordingly, technological options which have promise of making significant contributions to the energy requirements of the world must be seriously and aggressively assessed. In a mature society, new technologies should meet four conditions for acceptance: The first, of course, is technical possibility. This assures that the research and development base from which this conclusion is reached is sufficiently solid to establish the level of risk involved in moving forward toward technological development. The second condition is that of economic viability. The ability to provide a return on investment to the stake holders, whether they be owners of private corporations or the public in general. The third condition is environmental acceptability as perceived by widely diverse constituent groups. The fourth condition is social acceptability which includes public attitudes, national and international agreements and participation. The underlying philosophical approach to the SPS Concept Development and Evaluation Program and its assessment process has evolved from these four necessary and sufficient conditions of the technology equation. The evolving image of technology reflecting the maturity of an industrial society, may be understood again by learning from history. The evolution over the past 100 years or so of the forces involved in producing a successful technology shows an increase in the number of forces (i.e., groups) that come into play as a technology moves from the idea stage to successful implementation. A hundred years or so ago only two forces were involved in the culmination of a successful technology: Producers who were motivated by potential profits, and Users, sensing benefits. With these two forces operative, a technology could become successful. Approximately fifty years ago, Governments at the federal, state and local levels, recognizing the value of technology, became involved through direct and indirect subsidies to both the Producers and Users. Today, an additional force has emerged. I call this force the "communities of interest". Those groups or communities of individuals who are interested in social and environmental issues. They have recognized the need to protect the environment and to increase the breadth and depth of the participatory aspects of decision-making. These four groups exist in today's society (Producers, Users, Governments and Communities of interest). Without understanding and communicating between and among these groups the potential for a technology to become successful is significantly decreased.
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