By reducing the fuel costs of travel, motor vehicle efficiency, improvements tend to increase the demand for travel, thereby offsetting some of the energy-saving benefit of the efficiency improvement and creating a "rebound" effect. The key factor is the elasticity of vehicle travel with respect...

Following a tripling of world oil prices in 1973-74, the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 establishing mandatory fuel economy standards for automobiles and light trucks. Beginning at 18 MPG in 1978, the passenger car standards increased to 27.5 MPG by 1985....

This paper presents an econometric estimation of the "rebound effect" for household vehicle travel in the United States based on analysis of survey data collected by the Energy Information Administration (ELA) at approximately threeyear intervals over a 15-year period. The rebound effect...