I definitely don't agree that citing Jevon's Paradox is an argument against efficiency. If by not throwing away energy as waste heat, it ends up being used to say produce more goods, or to research new technology the same total amount of fuel may be used, but for a lot more productivity at the same time.

Previous cases of Jevon's Paradox leading to greater consumption though were only true when resources were not significantly limited, such as higher-efficiency steam engines leading to steam being more cost effective in more applications. The coal itself was not at all in short supply, nor were alternatives. If the price of fuel goes up to say $10 a gallon however due to scarcity, and there are no cheap alternatives, it will be a choice between using the energy more efficiently, or not using it at all-- Jevon's Paradox would not apply the same way.

 

You also fail to realize that while the IMA system takes energy to be built, what about all the energy it CAPTURES and converts to battery power that would otherwise be wasted in EVERY other car ???? How much energy are you actually USING to build the party compared to how much the system will actually RETAIN from the car that would be otherwise written off as waste energy ???? That NEEDS to be taken into account.

 

Agreed and I'm not arguing for or against the article since I'm still processing the information, but I think the citing of Jevon's paradox by the author illustrates that the saved energy and money from increased efficiency could be potentially used not only for constructive purposes (technology research), but for even more wasteful activities that would not be undertaken in the first place had such fuel/financial savings not occurred.

For instance, with the $150+ I save per month in fuel money by driving my HCH over my former Accord, I could spend on some form of "wasteful" conspicuous consumption activity, such as a drive to Vegas or the purchase of new clothing that I could not afford otherwise. All this activity results in energy consumption that could potentially be greater than had I just spent that $150 on fuel for my former Accord.

Or as a larger picture, with the many thousands (millions?) of gallons of fuel saved by hybrid drivers per year that could add to our national fuel supply and drive prices of fuel down, providing for an incentive for other drivers to purchase inefficient cars or take trips that they would not have taken in the first place had the fuel supply been less and gas prices higher.