A-Z Popular Blog Sustainability Search »
Sustainability
 Advertisements
Related Guides
Sustainability
top   »  economics   »  efficiency   »  jevons paradox

What is Jevons Paradox?

 , updated on
Jevons paradox is the observation that improved energy efficiency can increase the overall consumption of energy by making an activity cheaper and thus more scalable or accessible.
The classic example of Jevons paradox is the observation that England's consumption of coal jumped after the introduction of efficiency improvements in steam engines, namely the Watt steam engine.
Theoretical examples are also easy to construct. For example, space travel is currently prohibitively expensive primarily because of the energy required to achieve orbit. If space travel becomes more efficient, it may spark an industry in space tourism that is accessible to the masses much as air travel is today.
Jevons paradox can not be considered a universal rule because counter examples exist. For example, people arguably don't care about the energy efficiency of household appliances enough for it to change consumption patterns.
The environmental problems caused by Jevons paradox can be solved with strategies such as an ecotax that raises the cost of an activity even when it becomes more efficient.
Overview: Jevons Paradox
Type
Economics
Sustainability
Definition
The observation that energy or resource efficient technologies can spark greater overall consumption of a resource due to demand driven by price decreases.
Related Concepts
Economics
Circular Economy
Sustainable Design
Efficiency

Sustainability

This is the complete list of articles we have written about sustainability.
Adaptive Reuse
Anthropocene
Biochar
Broken Window Fallacy
Carbon Concrete
Cascading Failure
Circular Economy
Cities
Clean Air Zone
Clean Label
Climate Engineering
CO2 Per Capita
Coal Power
Comparative Risk
Creeping Normality
Cultural Lag
Cycle Highway
Daylighting
Deconstruction
Deep Water Cooling
Dematerialization
Disaster Preparedness
District Heating
Do No Harm
Do Nothing Farming
Dollar Voting
Downcycling
Durability
Economic Bad
Ecotax
Efficiency
Electric Boat
Embodied Energy
Environmental Issues
Environmental Justice
Environmental Problems
Existential Risk
Farm Robots
Fertilizer Tree
Fire Ecology
Food Sovereignty
Forest Dieback
Fruit Bagging
Future-Proofing
Global Change
Global Issues
Global Warming
Green Facade
Green Facades
Green Industry
Green Roof
Green Walls
Greenwashing
Happiness Economics
Happiness Index
High-Speed Rail
Holocene Extinction
Human Scale
Jevons Paradox
Keyhole Garden
Keystone Species
Land Footprint
Light Pollution
Living Street
Market Failure
Material Diversity
Microplastics
Missing Market
Moral Hazard
Natural Capital
Natural Resources
Nearly Car Free
Noise Pollution
Ocean Plastic Cleanup
Outside Context Problem
Overconsumption
Particulate Matter
Parts
Passive Design
Point Of No Return
Pollution
Polyculture
Precautionary Principle
Product Transparency
Quality Of Life
Race To The Bottom
Rainwater Harvesting
Repair Cafe
Resilience
Resilient Cities
Reusability
Reuse
Rewilding
Right To Know
Safety By Design
Scarcity
Silvopasture
Slow Design
Slow Movement
Smart Glass
Social Responsibility
Soft Engineering
Soil Carbon
Space Junk
Sunlight Transport
Superabundance
Sustainability
Sustainable Design
Sustainable Economics
Sustainable Lighting
Sustainable Materials
Tactical Urbanism
Uneconomic Growth
Upcycling
Urban Density
Urban Design
Urban Heat Island
Urban Reforestation
Waste Is Food
Water Security
If you enjoyed this page, please consider bookmarking Simplicable.
 
Cite »

Circular Economy

A list of techniques for a circular economy.

Machine Efficiency

How to calculate machine efficiency with examples.

Green Logistics

The definition of green logistics with examples.

Capitalism Problems

A list of the primary problems with capitalist economies.

Externality Example

An overview of externalities with examples.

Abundance

The definition of abundance with examples.

Environmental Impact

An overview of environmental impact with examples.

Environmental Issues Examples

A list of environmental issues.

Green Infrastructure

An overview of green infrastructure with examples.

Economic Theories

A list of economic theories that are particularly useful for business.

Adverse Selection

The tendency for people at high risk to buy insurance.

Economic Advantage

A list of economic positions or capabilities that allow you to outperform in a particular industry.

Knowledge Work

A definition of knowledge work with examples.

Production

A definition of production with examples.

Post Scarcity

An overview of post-scarcity.

Economic Infrastructure

The common types of economic infrastructure.

Business Competition

The common types of business competition.

Inefficiency

The common types of inefficiency.

Supply Examples

An overview of supply with common examples.

Trending

The most popular articles on Simplicable in the past day.

New Articles

Recent posts or updates on Simplicable.
Site Map
Business
Business Analysis
Business Models
Capital
Competition
Consumer Behavior
Economic Conditions
Economic Systems
Economics
Entrepreneurship
Finance
Financial Analysis
Goods
Government
Industries
Infrastructure
Innovation
Investment
Marketing
Marketing Economics
Markets
Microeconomics
Pricing
More ...
© 2010-2023 Simplicable. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of materials found on this site, in any form, without explicit permission is prohibited.

View credits & copyrights or citation information for this page.

Home About     Privacy Policy     Cookies Terms of Use     Contact Us Search


Cookies help us deliver our services. You have choices regarding these cookies. Please visit our privacy policy, cookie policy and consent tool to learn more.


Copyright 2002-2024 Simplicable. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed or translated. Report violations here.