Jevons' Paradox and Decarbonization

Over a hundred years ago, the English economist William Stanley Jevons keenly observed that technological advances that increase energy efficiency leads to further increased energy consumption and not the other way around, backed by impeccable data. In this talk, I will briefly review Jevons' observations, followed by recent critiques and affirming observations in various fields of what is now also known as the Rebound Effect and what they mean for decarbonization of the energy economy.