An independent non-profit conducts a hard count of jobs, companies, and investors.
By Alan S. Brown
Jobs in the emerging green energy economy in the United States grew 9.1 percent annually between 1998 and 2007, compared with 3.7 percent for all jobs, according to a nonprofit public service organization.
The organization, the Pew Charitable Trusts, says its conclusion is based on a national hard count of actual jobs, companies, and venture capital investments in the field. Until now, many policymakers and professional societies believed that green technologies would spur future employment, but did not have the hard numbers to back their contention.
According to Pew, green energy jobs grew faster than conventional employment in 38 states and the District of Columbia between 1998 and 2007. By 2007, more than 68,200 green energy businesses employed about 770,000 people. This compares with the 1.27 million workers working in conventional, generally fossil-fuel-based industries, including coal, oil and gas, and utilities.
The gap could close in the future. "The clean energy economy is poised for explosive growth," said Lori Grange, interim deputy director of the Pew Center on the States.
According to Grange, America's green energy economy has grown despite a lack of sustained federal government support since 1998. That is changing. New federal programs put caps on carbon emissions and mandate higher vehicle fleet mileage standards. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocates nearly $85 billion besides tax incentives for energy and transportation.
States also offer incentives. Twenty-nine states require utilities to supply a minimum amount of renewable energy, 46 offer consumers and businesses renewable energy or energy efficiency incentives, and 23 states are part of regional initiatives to reduce power plant carbon emissions. In addition, consumers are demanding cleaner energy sources and greener corporations.
According to Pew, the green energy economy consists of five components: clean energy; energy efficiency; environmentally friendly production; conservation and pollution mitigation; and training and support.
Today, conservation and pollution mitigation accounts for 501,551 jobs, 65 percent of the green energy total. It includes equipment and services, for example, to meet federal emission standards, remediate pollution, recycle waste, or conserve water. Despite its dominance, this sector has grown only 3 percent per year since 1998.
The fastest growing sectors of the clean economy are clean energy, energy efficiency, and environmentally friendly production. All three are involved in meeting future demands for a low-carbon economy. Together, they account for one of four jobs in the green energy field.
Clean energy includes the creation, distribution, and storage of energy. Sector employment grew 23 percent annually since 1998 to reach 89,000 workers in 2007. The field also attracted the vast majority of green energy venture capital between 2006 and 2008. Nearly 60 percent of jobs in this sector involve energy generation (six of ten of those jobs are in the solar industry, one in ten in wind). Thirty-one percent are in energy storage and the remaining 11 percent in transmission.
Energy efficiency accounts for an additional 73,000 jobs and grew 18 percent annually through 2007. Many of those jobs are in design and engineering, driven by consumer purchases of more than 500 million efficient Energy Star products in 2007.
Environmentally friendly production jobs rose 67 percent annually to reach 53,700 jobs in 2007. According to Pew, rapid growth in alternative products and services was driven by American demand for more sustainable products and practices.
It took until 2005 for venture capital investment in green technology to cross the $1 billion threshold. By the end of 2008, investment had reached $12.6 billion, including $5.9 billion in 2008 alone, equivalent to 15 percent of all global venture capital investments. |
