Jevons Paradox implies that in the long term, an increase in efficiency in the resource usage will generate an increase in resource consumption rather than a decrease 1.

Jevons Paradox is a term conceived in economics by English economist William Stanley Jevons in his 1865 book “The Coal Question”. Jevons observed that England’s coal consumption increased after James Watt introduced new efficient steam engine, though by all means the coal consumption should have decreased as a result of higher efficiency of coal powered engines 2.

What makes Jevons Paradox interesting that it is counter intuitive in nature with numerous examples all around us. Some of the examples that I can think of are:

  1. In Technology:The technology usage should decrease with better hardware usage but in reality the result is quite the
  2. In electricity usage: With efficient modes of electricity generation and distribution, the electricity usage per capita has also increased.
  3. In automobile usage: With higher number of fuel efficient cars, the av. distance travelled has increased (Similar to the long distance travelled by Aeroplanes).

  1. Unraveling the Complexity of the Jevons Paradox: The Link Between Innovation, Efficiency, and Sustainability. ↩︎

  2. Wikipedia - Jevons Paradox ↩︎