The Jevons Effect and the Consumption of Energy in the European Union

The energy policy of the European Union is focused on the problems of use and acquisition of energy resources. The most developed member countries can be characterized by high energy efficiency, which can be measured by such indexes as the final or primary energy consumption per total value of production (i.e. GDP). However, the economies of the European Union are still the largest consumers which are increasing the volume of the energy resources use. This problem were described by W. S. Jevons in 1865 in his work on the exploitation and consumption of English coal resources. His research is presented nowadays in economics as Jevons effect: technological advances lead to an increase of resource efficiency which results in an increase of the resource consumption. Many contemporary scientific and political disputes are focused on the problem of the climate change and the greenhouse gases which are released to the environment as a consequence of production and consumption processes. The strategy is similar to the environmental measures termed as the end of pipe policy where using of renewable energy resources are often seen as a panacea for all the problems. This paper indicates the needs for adopting a holistic perspective to solve environmental problems, which has been postulated in the conception of sustainable development. Otherwise, the use of renewable energy resources which doesn’t comply with the socio-economic processes could be the next unsustainable development strategy, according to the trends presented by W. S. Jevons. As a result of the research the need of precise adaptation of EU’s socio-economic policy to the situation in particular member countries is underlined, especially in relation to the consequences of using of renewable energy and the trends attributed to technological progress.