Gertrude Ibengwe Mongella (United Republic of Tanzania) . 1993

D. Gail Saunders (Bahamas) . 1994

He wouldn't pay excess turned nasty. I had to send for Mr Saunders.

He's not a bad lot, Saunders.

What if Mr Saunders was looking through the window.

If he's in the habit, it's about time he saw something worth looking at.

The conclusion that Saunders and his co authors draw from this is both surprising and hard to dispute rather than shrinking our electricity use, the introduction of ever more efficient lighting technologies is much more likely to lead to massive growth in the consumption of light.

As Saunders noted in a summary on the blog, he and his colleagues, drawing on 300 years of evidence, found that, as lighting becomes more energy efficient, and thus cheaper, we use ever more of it.

Or, as Saunders puts it, energy efficiency may be a net positive in increasing economic productivity and growth, but should not be relied upon as a way to reduce energy consumption and thus greenhouse gas emissions.

As Saunders and his colleagues observe in their journal article, This was the case in the UK in 1700, is the case in the undeveloped world not on grid electricity in modern times, and is the case for the developed world in modern times using the most advanced lighting technologies.