ABSTRACT
William Stanley Jevons was an influential economist renowned for pioneering what can now be seen as a politically ecological perspective from within that discipline in questioning the conventional wisdom on supply and demand in relation to the sustainability of resources. Jevons was educated chiefly in the sciences at University College London but then entered academia as a philosopher/economist. In The Coal Question, Jevons argues that increased efficiency in coal use in Britain was not enough to safeguard her leadership in this industry, even though she led the world both in terms of resources and their efficient extraction and use. Increased efficiency also reduces the costs of using a resource and so gives an economic incentive for industry and the public to demand more of it. Jevons hence was pessimistic about the prospects of Britain becoming sustainable in coal and advocated developing alternative energy sources such as hydroelectric and solar power.
