Catalogue description Department of Energy and predecessors: Energy Technology Division: Registered Files (ET Series)

The Chief Scientist (Energy) Division was established within the Ministry of Technology in 1969. The division absorbed the majority of functions previously carried out by the Chief Scientist's Division of the Ministry of Power whose functions were transferred to the Ministry of Technology in 1969. Upon the dissolution of the Ministry of Technology in 1970, the Chief Scientist (Energy) Division was transferred to the newly created Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). In 1972, the division was renamed the Energy Technology Division which eventually consisted of four branches covering electricity; gas oil and coal; iron and steel and general administration. After the break up of the DTI in 1974, the Energy Technology Division was transferred to the Chief Scientist's Group within the newly created Department of Energy.

The Energy Technology Division was established to examine current and future energy requirements within the UK as well as the long term prospects for fossil fuels. Additional studies undertaken by the division included studies into alternative sources of energy eg tidal, wave, wind and solar, the possibilities for reducing pollution and the use of natural gas as an alternative fuel for road vehicles. The division provided the secretariat for the ACORD (Fuel and Power) Committee, composed of industrialists and academics, which was tasked by the government to examine various energy issues.