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> Due to the Jevons paradox making air conditioning more efficient will most likely increase energy consumption. Good. That means more people now have access t
by RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y ago
> Due to the Jevons paradox making air conditioning more efficient will most likely increase energy consumption.
Good. That means more people now have access to it and it is a good thing.
Another example is clean water. If clean water is abundant, people will use it for more drinking and cooking and bathing. That is a good thing.
- asoneth 3y agoAbsolutely. More efficient technologies will make life more pleasant for many people. On balance I think this is a net win for humanity and am in favor of ongoing work in this area. However, I should have been more specific when I said making air conditioning more efficient is counterproductive. I solely meant counterproductive towards the assumed goal of decarbonization in response to the prior comment's claim that "finding efficient ways to use our energy" is a viable strategy to address climate change. Without pairing that efficiency with real solutions like putting a price on negative externalities, increasing efficiency is significantly more likely to increase overall energy consumption than to decrease it.