Information and communication technologies - A new round of household electrification

 

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) increasingly permeate everyday life in industrialized societies. The aim of this paper is to explore ICT-related transformations of everyday practices and discuss the implications particularly for household electricity consumption. The paper reports on a case study carried out in Denmark in 2007-8. Based on qualitative interviews, the pervasiveness of present ICT-integration is described, as well as the diversification of well-known practices. The changes are reflected both in increasing electricity consumption in the home and in increasing indirect energy consumption related to provision of ICT-devices and running the related infrastructure. The changing practices observed at the micro level are discussed in a historical perspective, and it is argued that the present changes add a qualitatively new aspect to electrification, and may be interpreted as a new round of household electrification.