The Jevons Paradox

In The Coal Question (1865), British economist W. Stanley Jevons observed that increased energy efficiency may result in increased energy use. Also know as the "rebound effect," the Jevons Paradox helps explain why higher U.S. fuel economy standards have not reduced oil consumption. Increased fuel efficiency reduced the marginal cost of driving. In combination with population growth, this allowed for sharp increases in the number of cars on the road and the number of miles each car traveled per year.

W. Stanley Jevons. The Coal Question; An Inquiry concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of our Coalmines. 2nd edition, revised. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1866).