LEDs, Energy Efficiency and Consumption

To the Editor:

The quest for fire, and hence for light, is a defining characteristic of humankind. Far from being a problem, making light cheaper and more efficient is good news all around.

While the rebound effect has been known for over a century, we also know its limits. In the case of developed countries, there’s only so much lighting one can consume — you don’t add more lamps in the living room after replacing an inefficient bulb with an LED.

For billions of light-starved citizens in the developing world, lower costs will speed the journey from darkness — and that is a very good thing. What’s more, efficiency helps solve a core dilemma of climate protection: how developing countries can grow their economies without following the emissions-intensive path we did.

Energy inefficiency is never good. Focusing on the “backfire” is a mere distraction. LEDs alone won’t solve global warming or global poverty, but they are a step in the right direction for both.

Gernot Wagner

Kenneth Gillingham

Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 10, 2014

Mr. Wagner is lead senior economist at the Environmental Defense Fund, and Mr. Gillingham is an assistant professor of economics at Yale.

Published as Letter to the Editor in the New York Times on October 17th, 2014.

Also see: “The Rebound Effect and Energy Efficiency Policy.”