The Sustainability of `Sustainable´ Energy Use: Historical Evidence on the Relationship between Economic Growth and Renewable Energy

The paper examines historical cases from the Roman Empire, Early Modern Europe, and the Far East to argue that long-term economic growth is possible within renewable energy systems if demand, supply, and trade are managed through sound government policy. It contrasts successful management in Germany and Japan with failures in China, and assesses the technical potential of global renewable resources compared to current energy consumption.

• Historical evidence from the Roman Empire suggests that energy requirements were often met sustainably through practices like coppicing or felling forests in rotation, allowing industrial activities such as copper smelting to persist for thousands of years.
• In Early Modern Europe, woodfuel shortages were typically local distribution problems rather than national energy crises, and real energy prices remained stable or declined in most cities between 1400 and 1800.
• Early modern German states successfully managed woodfuel supplies through government interventions, including the promotion of transport networks, the regulation of extraction rates to avoid a 'tragedy of the commons', and encouraging fuel efficiency.
• Japan's experience with woodfuel involved a long process of trial and error; initial bans on wood removal failed, but later 18th-century policies involving rationing, more efficient stoves, and active reforestation were more successful.
• China's historical transition to coal was driven by poorly managed woodfuel supplies and deforestation during the Song Dynasty, but a subsequent period of economic decline led to a loss of the knowledge required to maintain long-term growth within a renewable system.
• The technical potential for global renewable energy resources is estimated at over 180,000 mtoe, which is approximately 15 times the current global primary energy requirements.

APA

Fouquet, R. (2010). The Sustainability of `Sustainable´ Energy Use: Historical Evidence on the Relationship between Economic Growth and Renewable Energy. Basque Centre for Climate Change. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201007131014441335458276.pdf

Chicago

Fouquet, Roger. The Sustainability of `Sustainable´ Energy Use: Historical Evidence on the Relationship between Economic Growth and Renewable Energy. Basque Centre for Climate Change, 2010. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201007131014441335458276.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fouquet |first1=Roger |title=The Sustainability of `Sustainable´ Energy Use: Historical Evidence on the Relationship between Economic Growth and Renewable Energy |publisher=Basque Centre for Climate Change |date=July 2010 |url=https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201007131014441335458276.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fouquet2010sustainability, author = {Fouquet, Roger}, title = {{The Sustainability of `Sustainable´ Energy Use: Historical Evidence on the Relationship between Economic Growth and Renewable Energy}}, institution = {Basque Centre for Climate Change}, year = {2010}, month = jul, url = {https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201007131014441335458276.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }