Energy Efficiency

Many economists have argued that increasing energy efficiency tends to result in an increase in energy use, rather than conservation. This is known as the Jevons paradox. By using energy more efficiently, its cost is lowered, which means increased demand. Higher efficiency, then, results in the greater use of an energy resource, such as fossil fuels. Some people have used this as an argument against any efforts at conservation, since it appears futile and counter-productive. While the Jevons paradox does accurately describe our history since the Industrial Revolution, it is not a physical law, and if we want to live sustainably in the future, energy efficiency will be very important.

The Industrial Revolution began in England in the mid eighteenth century, and spread to the rest of the Western world by the nineteenth century. This was all made possible through the use of coal. The first steam engines were bulky, inefficient, and expensive. Yet, they still provided an advantage over manual human labour. With new technology, efficiency improved, which allowed the steam engine to be much more widely used, instead of being limited to specialized applications. While a newer engine might require less coal to do the same amount of work, the number of engines increased by orders of magnitude, obviously leading to a much higher consumption of coal.

The same process played out in many different areas. As efficiency and productivity increased, more and more factories were built, and mass production began to take off. The higher the efficiency, the more products could be produced at a lower cost. Entire new markets were developed, leading to higher demand, and higher consumption. Train engines also improved year after year, leading to an explosion in the construction and use of railroads, first in Europe, then across North America.

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, oil became another important energy source, especially in the area of transportation. As more and more efficient methods of refining and using oil were developed, the use of oil also took off. Ships switched to oil from coal, many trains switched to diesel, and, of course, the automobile spread like wildfire. Yet, the use of oil did not eliminate the use of coal. Even today in the United States, more than half of the electricity is still generated from coal.

The improvements in efficiency helped to drive a vast expansion in the use of fossil fuels. First coal, then oil, and finally natural gas. This is what made the incredible economic growth of the past couple centuries possible. This also made it possible for the human population to grow faster than ever before, which would also translate into greater demand for more energy. This would be met both by an expansion in the exploitation of fossil fuels and improvements in efficiency.

Much of this growth provided many benefits. In the West, the standard of living rose rapidly. People had more food, more material goods, larger homes, and more conveniences. Initially this growth helped to meet people's needs and give them a better life, but this expanded to indulgence and excessive consumption for the sake of itself. At the same time, pollution and carbon emissions were expanding, the planet was being deforested, and millions of species were going extinct. The environment was being destroyed, and the stage set for an unprecedented rate of climate change.

When economists point to efficiency leading to increased use, they are not wrong. That is precisely what our history has shown. But this is not a physical law, nor a matter of cause and effect. It is a behaviour we have deliberately adopted, supported largely by the values inherent in our economic system. Increased efficiency led to increased use only because we value growth. For two hundred years the goal of all Western governments has been to grow the economy. It is only within this context that improvements in efficiency can be seen as driving an increase in energy use.

We are now reaching the end of economic growth, however, simply because we are starting to hit the physical limits imposed on us by the planet. Our natural resources are being depleted, and much of the land is becoming barren. It is clear what the legacy of economic growth has left us. We now know that we have to dramatically decrease our energy use and carbon emissions, and our general consumption, just in order to survive. This does not mean, however, that we need to give up energy efficiency, indeed it means it will become even more important.

In order to solve many of our current problems, we will need to scale back, reduce our energy use, reduce our consumption and waste, and live and work more locally. Energy efficiency can help make much of this easier, but only if a reduction in energy use is viewed as a valid end in itself. If we look at efficiency as a way to free up energy to be used for other purposes, then it would truly be a futile endeavour. But if we view it as a way to live sustainably with the minimum possible impact on the environment, then it is vital.

Many homes, for example, when well-constructed and well-insulated, can required almost no energy for heating or cooling. A dense, efficient, residential area can provide comfortable housing for many more people than suburban sprawl, while using an order of magnitude less energy. Eliminating cars and trucks in favour of walking, biking, and more efficient rail can also provide substantial benefits. Measures like these can make it possible for small scale alternative energies to meet all our needs. This would make it possible to eliminate the use of most fossil fuels, rather than just adding to total energy use, which is what usually happens now with alternative energy.

The economists are right about Jevons paradox, but they draw the wrong conclusions from this observation. They are unwilling to question their most basic assumption, that continued economic growth is both desirable and possible. Only within a system that promotes economic growth as a primary goal can efficiency be seen as leading to an increase in energy use. Alternatively, if the primary goal is to reduce our impact on the environment and to move to a sustainable way of life, then efficiency becomes a vital tool that can help us to meet that goal.