Renewable Energy Jobs

Renewable Energy Jobs – A Bright Outlook

Renewable Energy Jobs are the Green jobs which are ready to redefine our current job industry. They provide a solution for helping our economy grow in a more sustainable manner and for helping our society. There are many types of Green Jobs in the areas like renewable energy, green building, sustainable transport, waste management, energy finance etc. Among all, Renewable energy jobs cover a major part of green jobs which include jobs from renewable energy resources like wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, wave & tidal and bio energies.

Having these types of renewable energy jobs can actually make a big difference in the world, that’s why we have to put out the word to the world. This is just the first step, educating people and showing them all the various benefits that we can gain from these unique jobs.

The Projected number of green jobs could reach to 100 million in next 20 years. This means that approximately 2% of total global workforce would be employed in renewable energy jobs out of estimated 5 billion by 2030 [1].

What are the possible types of jobs in the renewable energy sector?

This sector offers multiple job roles starting from non-technical to highly technical and senior management jobs. People with the knowledge and experience in the renewable energy are extremely valuable but people with transferable skills from other sectors can also be absorbed well. According to Juliet Davenport, chief executive of green energy supplier Good Energy, the renewable sector is “one of the few areas where growth is certain for the foreseeable future” [5]. Type of few job roles in various categories could be….

Non-Technical: Customer care, Marketing, HR, PR, sales, financing etc. are the roles for enthusiastic people with transferable skills.

Technical: People from various engineering streams like biomedical, civil, mechanical, chemical, electrical etc. are meant for such roles as they are the backbones of renewable energy sectors for production, development, installation and customer support roles.

Senior Management: People with sufficient knowledge of this industry along with good decision-making power as in other industries can be absorbed for the roles of CEOs, CFOs or business development or any other decision making position.

Government jobs: Policy makers, planning and development, researchers in renewable sectors etc.

Trading market: Again, people with transferable skills and some knowledge of renewable energy sector can be absorbed here.

Software professionals: This is a profession which is applicable to any field as IT has become life line for any kind of business to develop and grow.

Is there any existing market for renewable energy jobs?

Renewable Energy JobsWave & tidal, hydro power are most prevailing methods of generating renewable energy. It contributes to about 7% of total power in USA and about 19% of overall electricity generation across the world. China is the largest producer of hydroelectricity, followed by Canada, Brazil, and the United States [2].

Biofuel is another powerful renewable energy resource for the road transportation which is already in use in USA and Brazil. It contributes to about 2.7% world’s fuel for the vehicles.  “Biofuels have the potential to meet more than a quarter of world demand for transportation fuels by 2050” [3].

Wind power is converted from wind energy which is again a useful renewable and dependable energy resource. It has the capacity to support about 2.5% of world’s power consumption [4].

Power generation from solar photovoltaic cell is increasing rapidly approximately by 20% every year since 2002[10] especially in Germany and Spain. Solar thermal power industry is also expanding and soon will become a dominating method of power generation.

Power generation from geothermal energy is also expanding rapidly with the leading countries like USA and Philippines.

How is government supporting the creation of these jobs?

Due to the pressure of Kyoto Protocol, more than 140 countries are committed to reduce emission of greenhouse gases and encourage energy production through renewable resources. Almost all big developing and developed countries are participating in this program. All these countries are promoting ways to save non-renewable energy and increase usage of renewable energy resources in one or the other way.

In UK, the Government has announced Feed in Tariffs (FITs) and Renewable Heat Incentives (RHIs) for installing Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal, an effort to boost solar energy business. European Union has initiated programs like Intelligent Energy – Europe (IEE). These kinds of schemes are attracting customers towards renewable power and thus creating more job opportunities in this field. Needless to say, that future of job market lies with renewable energy jobs. Jobs in non-renewable energy sector will survive only until the resources last.

“As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of jobs – but only if we accelerate that transition. Only if we seize the moment” – President Barack Obama [6].

Are there any higher education or vocational training programs?

Renewable EnergyConsidering the great upcoming opportunities for jobs in Renewable Energy sector, many universities in UK, USA, Australia, Sweden, India, China and many other countries are considering offering undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses in renewable energy technologies, sustainable development, sustainable building design and many more.  In fact, engineering degree in Biotechnology is quite popular in India as it gives good opportunity for students to choose their carrier in engineering who are also interested in the field of biology. Some of the degree courses are available through distance learning also. Many short-term training courses are also available for professionals like electricians, plumbers who are interested in switching their career from traditional non-renewable energy system to renewable ones. MET UK [7], Aurora Vision Academy in India [8], Solar Living Institute in USA [9] and many more institutes across the world run such vocational courses to prepare you for renewable energy jobs.

Are you interested in Renewable Energy Jobs?

If you are qualified in any of the renewable energy disciplines, trained on any vocational courses to switch over your carrier, you are definitely passionate about a carrier in renewable energy jobs. People who have enough expertise in renewable or no-renewable energy sectors and are able to demonstrate transferable skills are also welcoming to contact for free information. Please sign up with www.brightgreentalent.com on the right-hand side.