Some Good News in Hard Times
Solutions in Action from the Climate 2030 Blueprint
General Electric’s vice-president of renewable energy made headlines in 2008 when he promised to hire every graduate of Mesalands Community College’s wind power program for the next three years (NMBW 2008). Although a guaranteed job offer isn’t standard for people training for careers in renewable energy, expected job growth in the industry is good news.
The solar industry estimates that more than 15,000 jobs were created in 2007 and 2008 (SEIA 2009), and the wind industry boasts more than 35,000 new direct and indirect jobs created in 2008 (AWEA 2009c). U.S. manufacturing of wind turbines and their components has also greatly expanded, with more than 70 new facilities opening, growing, or announced in 2007 and 2008. The industry estimates that these new facilities will create 13,000 high-paying jobs, and increase the share of domestically made components from about 30 percent in 2005 to 50 percent in 2008 (AWEA 2009b).
Although job numbers for the entire renewable energy industry are difficult to find, data from individual sectors such as solar and wind attest to demand for skilled labor. With the Obama administration’s promise of green jobs spurred by federal policies designed to bring more renewables online, clean-tech careers will continue to grow—welcome news given that the U.S. economy shed 1.2 million jobs in the first 10 months of 2008 (BLS 2008).
Several studies have found that renewable energy projects create can create more jobs than using coal and natural gas to generate electricity. For example, a recent Union of Concerned Scientists study found that a national renewable electricity standard of 25 percent by 2025 would create nearly 300,000 new jobs in the United States—or three times more jobs than producing the same amount of electricity from coal and natural gas (UCS 2009). The U.S. Department of Energy recently reported that the wind industry will create more than 500,000 new U.S. jobs if 20 percent of the nation’s power comes from wind by 2030 (EERE 2008). A third study showed that manufacturing the components for wind, hydro, geothermal, and solar systems could create more than 381,000 U.S. jobs (Sterzinger and Svrcek 2005).
As demand for workers has grown, so too has the number of schools devoted to training people for jobs in renewable energy. Besides New Mexico’s Mesalands—whose students are guaranteed employment with GE—Highland Community College in Illinois and Laramie County Community College in Wyoming introduced wind technician programs in 2008. Colorado’s Solar Energy International instructs 2,500 students each year in alternative energy systems. And enrollment in engineering for alternative energy at Lansing Community College in Michigan has jumped from 20 to 158 students since 2005, according to program staff (Glasscoe 2009).
Although training programs for jobs in renewable energy have expanded, many skills used in conventional industries such as manufacturing are transferable with no additional training. After a small Iowa town lost more than 100 jobs with the closing of a local plant making hydraulics, for example, most found new employment with wind turbine manufacturer Acciona after it converted the plant to build turbines (Goodman 2008).
Near Saginaw, Michigan, Hemlock Semiconductor provides the raw materials for electronic devices such as cell phones and, increasingly, solar panels. When completed in 2010, Hemlock’s expansion to serve its growing solar business means the company will add 250 full-time jobs and 800 temporary construction jobs in a state that shed more than 400,000 jobs from 2000 to 2007 (Fulton and Cary 2008; Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. 2007).
Jobs in renewable energy are also geographically diverse—staffing geothermal energy systems in Alaska, manufacturing biomass pellets in Florida, and projects everywhere in between. And while renewable energy can provide an important source of income and jobs for rural areas where many projects are located, they can create new manufacturing, construction, operation, and maintenance jobs in urban areas as well. The national group Green for All, for instance, works with cities such as Richmond, California to offer free training programs in trade skills for renewable energy (Apollo Alliance and Green for All 2008; Lee 2008).
Expanding the nation’s use of renewable energy is essential to reducing our carbon emissions. In difficult economic times, the job growth spurred by clean, homegrown energy offers even more reason to ramp up its development.
References
American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). 2009c. Wind energy grows by record 8,300 MW in 2008. Press release, January 27. Accessed on January 29, 2009.
Apollo Alliance and Green for All. 2008. Green collar jobs in America’s cities: Building pathways out of poverty and careers in the clean energy economy. Accessed on April 6, 2009.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 2008. The employment situation. Press release, October. Accessed on January 28, 2009.
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). 2008. 20% wind energy by 2030: Increasing wind energy’s contribution to U.S. electricity supply. DOE/GO-102008-2578. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy.
Fulton, G., and J. Cary. 2008. The Michigan economic outlook for 2009–2010. November 21. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan. Accessed on January 29, 2009.
Glasscoe, S. 2009. Personal communication. January 29. Sydney Glasscoe is on the staff of Lansing Community College’s Environmental, Design and Building Technologies Department.
Goodman, P. 2008. Splash of green for the rust belt. New York Times, November 1.
Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation. 2007. Hemlock semiconductor to expand Michigan polysilicon operations. May 2. Accessed on January 29, 2009.
Lee, R. 2008. Personal communication. Rodney Lee is an alumnus of the Richmond BUILD program. More information.
New Mexico Business Weekly (NMBW). 2008. GE promises to hire wind technicians trained at Mesalands. May 30. Accessed on April 6, 2009.
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). 2009. Solar and wind ready to lead new clean energy economy. January 9. Accessed on January 29, 2009.
Sterzinger, G., and M. Svrcek. 2005. Component manufacturing: Ohio’s future in the renewable energy industry. Renewable Energy Policy Project, October. accessed on January 27, 2009.
