WHAT A 160-YEAR-OLD THEORY ABOUT COAL PREDICTS ABOUT OUR SELF-DRIVING FUTURE

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

Greater efficiency in deploying a resource causes demand for that resource to skyrocket, negating any expected decline in total usage. For example, people responded to improved light bulb efficiency by installing so many more of them there has been no decline in the total energy consumed by lighting. Jevons paradox, which describes this phenomenon, explains why efficiency improvements can backfire and cause the opposite outcome from what was intended. Autonomous vehicles promise increased safety and lower environmental impact, but Jevons paradox predicts that total crashes and emissions will likely increase rather than fall.