There are common arguments among those who are skeptical of the potential of renewable energy – they are too expensive, certain forms require more energy than they produce, they are a drain on public finances, etc.

Bjørn Lomborg, adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School and Director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, has made a point you don’t often hear in an opinion piece published at the Project Syndicate website.

“The reality is that humanity has spent recent centuries getting away from renewables. In 1800, the world obtained 94% of its energy from renewable sources. That figure has been declining ever since,” writes Lomborg.

And though he acknowledges that the move towards fossil fuels has brought about its own environmental problems, it has also resulted in some environmental benefits.

“Kerosene saved the whales (which had been hunted almost to extinction to provide supposedly “renewable” whale oil for lighting). Coal saved Europe’s forests. With electrification, indoor air pollution, which is much more dangerous than outdoor air pollution, disappeared in most of the developed world,” writes Lomborg.

“In 1910, more than 30% of farmland in the United States was used to produce fodder for horses and mules. Tractors and cars eradicated this huge demand on farmland (while ridding cities of manure pollution).”