On The Rebound Effect

The "rebound effect" postulates that, as energy efficiency goes up, the cost of using energy consuming products becomes less, which in turn leads us to consume more energy. So, for example, if your car gets better gas mileage, you will just drive it more.

But this argument is flawed in several respects. For example, in T.O (where I live) driving more means being stuck on the 404/401 longer, which tends to decrease the amount of pleasure associated with the whole experience.

In other words, driving is not like sex: you wouldn’t necessarily do more of it if you just had more energy.


Click through link above for scholarly discussion.

Blackle

Recently, Google designed a black version of its search page called Blackle in hopes that the color switch would save energy, the theory being that a black page uses less power to display. This theory has since been debunked, but the page does look very cool. For those nights when you're up late doing "research" and want to feel all sexxxy and dangerous. Better than sitting around in the dark in a leather jacket and mirror shades.