Renewable energy – an employment driver

Renewable energy creates employment. At the end of 2008, approximately 280,000 people in Germany were employed in planning and designing, installing and operating plant and systems. The number of jobs has therefore quadrupled since 1998 and rose by 30,000 in 2008 alone. Due to the worldwide increasing demand for renewable energy, the industry expects to give more than 500,000 people in Germany employment in 2020. Most will work directly for the export of plant and accessories to fulfil the increasing demand for German renewable energy technology abroad.

The industry will benefit from the years of successful development on the domestic market, which has made it a worldwide technology leader. Around 60 % of the companies complain of too few or inadequately trained employees, so a study by the Wissenschaftsladen (WiLa) Bonn says. Although, at 6.5% on average, the training rate among wind turbine manufacturers, suppliers and operators is considerably higher than other industries in Germany (4.8 %), the companies are hardly able to cover their requirements.

 

SolarWorld keeps 2009 sales outlook

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – SolarWorld, Germany’s third-largest solar company by revenue, confirmed its 2009 sales outlook after first-quarter net profit rose more than a quarter as the company offset falling module prices by cutting costs. Chief Executive Frank Asbeck told Reuters on Monday that the company still expects to post 2009 sales of more than 1 billion euros ($1.33 billion), while full-year profit would depend on how prices develop in the battered industry.

SolarWorld in March held off giving a 2009 profit outlook, providing guidance only for sales as falling prices for cell modules and wafers has weighed on margins in the industry.

Net profit for the first three months came in at 24 million euros, up 26 percent from last year’s 19 million, while sales rose 5 percent to 176 million euros.

Its shares were indicated 1.1 percent higher in pre-market trade, while Frankfurt’s technology index was seen 0.2 percent lower.

Cost-cutting measures also helped peer First Solar last week, whose shares rocketed after its results beat analyst expectations despite strong price declines.

Like peers, SolarWorld is looking to expand beyond established and saturated European markets. It has said it aims to double sales in the United States this year, boosted by investments earmarked by the Obama administration.

SolarWorld — which makes solar panels, cells and silicon — is among few companies in the sector that have not been hit by the economic crisis so far. Analysts cite its activities in several parts of the solar value chain.

More specialized peers such as Q-Cells and Norway’s Renewable Energy Corp (REC) are struggling to maintain the high growth rates that have been a hallmark of the industry.

According to StarMine, which weights analysts’ forecasts according to their track records, SolarWorld trades at 14.3 times estimated 12-month forward earnings, a premium to Q-Cells’s 10.6 and REC’s 11.7 times.

 

The Green Collar Economy

Van Jones is the Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).

A Progressive Rallying Point

This new politics around green economic development is a winner far beyond Oakland. A study conducted by Greenberg, Quinlan and Rosner showed that Americans overwhelmingly want policymakers to “offer an optimistic vision of America … with the can-do spirit to solve the energy problem.” Even more encouraging, respondents asked policymakers to broaden the energy issue beyond the environment by making it about the future of the American economy.

The people want a solutions-driven approach to energy, jobs and the environment—not an effort to “combat” and “fight” global warming. Green jobs could be a rallying point for a real progressive majority. The new Democratic leadership should:

• Pass a national Green Workforce Development Act, training workers from around the country.
• Create green enterprise zones in the parts of the country most impacted by poverty and the shrinking manufacturing base.
• Help polluting industries transition into the new economy, instead of subsidizing them to continue polluting our poorest communities. Congress took an important step last week by slashing oil subsidies.

Here in California, Governor Schwarzenegger is winning over some progressives with his bold, market-based approach to confronting global warming. Now we don’t have a lot of love for Arnold—his record is lacking on some critical human rights challenges like prison reform—but on this one, we’re for it. Schwarzenegger sees the political and economic viability of the new green economy.

The enthusiasm for Barack Obama’s candidacy—even the comforting tone of Hilary Clinton’s campaign announcement/coffee klatch—shows an understanding that the American people are hungry for something uplifting.  But which one will be able to say, “I co-sponsored the Green Workforce Development Act of 2007″? Who will be the first one to visit our office and throw on a Green Jobs for Oakland? T-shirt? We’re betting it will be the same one who wins.

Gone are the days where the right could divide us over environment versus jobs. It’s environment and jobs—and they are jobs that could mean a pathway out of poverty for those most in need. Propose it. Fight for it. And let’s begin moving all of America into the green-collar age.

 

The solar energy market will shrink in 2009 but start a new period of growth next year

And there is light at the end of the tunnel. Module and system prices have decreased by more than 10% over the last few months – sufficient to compensate the reduced German feed-in tariff this year. Investment in solar energy in Germany became more attractive in 2009 compared to 2008. The German market is therefore likely to grow, and there is no doubt that it will become the world’s largest market again in 2009.The market volume could reach 1900 to 2000 MegaWatts of newly installed power this year. And if module prices continue to decrease, the volume could be even higher as solar is one of the few safe investment alternatives sure to deliver a decent return on investment. The global solar industry will therefore remain highly dependent on development of the German market, where parliament elections take place later this year. The solar industry should be thankful to German tax-payers for keeping the industry alive right now. Continued government support will be required only for a limited number of years, however. The industry needs market volume to bring down costs, and for prices to reach ‘grid parity’ in several markets. At that moment, when the cost of solar energy equals the cost of electricity from the grid, government incentives will no longer be needed, and an endless road of growth opportunities will lie ahead.

 

Mystery of Green Jobs

By Paula Hendricks

Green jobs are a singular shining point of hope in an otherwise unsettling time. Depending on who you ask, green jobs are going to pull the U.S. out of the recession. Green jobs will help keep jobs at home. Green jobs will help the underprivileged. Green jobs will help rebuild our nation and lead the world to a better place. Green jobs will transform our energy system. And they will fill our desire to take on work that makes a difference.

As a result, many people, both active job seekers and the merely curious, are looking for green jobs.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality has recently appointed Van Jones — author of The Green Collar Economy — to be a special advisor for green jobs, enterprise and innovation. There is money in the stimulus plan and the national budget for green jobs. This new green economy will affect every part of our lives and will provide millions upon millions of jobs soon.

But when is soon? And where are those green jobs? How do we find them? What do I need to do or know to get one? And what is a green job anyway?

What Is a Green Job?

There is no one definition of a green job. The term “green jobs” has become a catch-all for any job that has to do with sustainability, climate change, green building, energy, the environment, recycling, organic farming or transportation. The fact is that “green jobs” means different things to different people.

My regular series of blog posts will cover as much of the green jobs universe as I can — to share what’s new, to share conversations with those who are in or know about green jobs, and to share stories of people who are finding their dream green jobs even in this turbulent economy.

I’ve been researching green jobs over the past year as part of my role as Green Jobs point person for the Job Forum here in San Francisco. The Job Forum is a volunteer-run program where job seekers come for help in their job search. In that role I’ve interviewed a wide variety of people involved with green initiatives from government employees, academic program directors, workforce consultants, and those developing green job career search services.

One telling fact: According to Jim Cassio, a workforce development consultant, the government labor codes do not yet include any jobs with the word “solar” in them. In addition to making it exceedingly difficult to track the number of jobs in the U.S. involving the solar industry, that also means that every article you read about “green jobs” is likely to be using different assumptions.

Green jobs can be obvious, like engineers and installers in solar companies or the chief sustainability officer at Sun Microsystems or Georgia Pacific. They can be organic farmers or anyone who works at Seventh Generation.

But a green job can also be the truck driver who carries green products one day and traditional products the next, or the executive assistant in a green company. And it can be someone who is greening his or her current job in a traditional company. These are all green jobs. One helpful way to think about green jobs is to break them down as follows:

• All jobs in new green industries that were not here 10 or even 5 years ago;
• All jobs in businesses or organizations that are already green;
• Specific jobs in businesses that are moving toward green;
• Green jobs in businesses that don’t yet have a clue.

The key is to do your research, find out what is considered green in your area.

Where Are All the Green Jobs?

Green jobs are everywhere — but sometimes they are not easy to see. There has always been a “hidden job market” — the one where the jobs aren’t posted on job boards, the one where the company may not even know exactly what they want… yet, the one where knowing someone gets you in the door. In many places, the hidden job market is the one you need to be looking in for green jobs.

One good starting resource (in addition to GreenBiz.com’s own jobs board), is to look at Cassio’s free Green Careers Resource Guide for ideas. This guide has information on employment statistics, green jobs, green careers, and job boards.

How Do I Find my Green Job?

You have the opportunity to decide for yourself what a green job is for you and to go after it. People are finding green jobs in this economy. Van Jones had a green job as the founding president of Green for All and he is being replaced by Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins because of his new job at the White House. Where there was one green job just a few days ago, there are now two.

To find your own green job, you need to do your research, figure out what you really want to do, talk to people who are doing what you want to do, or are doing something similar. Find the physical communities or the online communities you feel comfortable in and let people know you want to move in this direction. Your job may be with your own company or it may be a job that isn’t even posted yet by a young startup.

Real Life Examples

In future articles I will provide more examples of the wide range of organizations and corporations and small businesses that have green jobs. From the building industry with its established LEED standards to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental action organization that also does business consulting, to GE Transportation with its state of the art locomotive manufacturing division, to companies like Better Place and Coulomb Technologies that are developing charging station networks for electric vehicles.

This world of green jobs is changing minute by minute so we want this to be a dialogue — post a comment at the bottom of the page to tell us about good resources, green job-hunting success stories, and tell us when we’re off base.

Paula Hendricks has written two books on sustainable building, and has been involved with the Job Forum in San Francisco for more than eight years.

 

Renewable Energy

They are saying that 850,000 new jobs will be created by the year 2020 in renewable energy. Where is all the sense of the brain drain going to come from. There needs and will be a change in the education sector for this level of change and shift in the market should the global markets meet expectations. There is the Copenhagen summit to come shortly there the G20 will make more we hope of some progresses and discussions over there strategies in this sector to move forward.
With a huge demand and a global talent shortage looming over us for skilled individuals, now is the time to take your part and get in on opportunities.

 

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