Does efficiency actually save the resource?
Unit savings and behavioral response must be considered together.
Inside this model
Baseline use is 100. Each task consumes 1−e times as much resource, while task count grows by 1+rebound×e. Total use is 100(1−e)(1+rebound×e); rebound is a chosen response coefficient.
Out in the world
A practical use
Cheaper travel per mile may encourage more miles traveled.
A useful lens. Not a universal law.
- Rebound strength is a scenario assumption, not an estimate of any specific technology or policy.
Associated thinkers
Further reading
Explore the original research or the teaching reference behind this experiment.
William Stanley Jevons — The Coal Question ↗