New Reports Note the Potential for Millions of Green Jobs
Global efforts to tackle climate change could result in millions of green jobs over the coming decades, according to a recent study. The study, prepared by the Worldwatch Institute with funding from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), found that the global market for environmental products and services is projected to double from $1.37 trillion per year at present to $2.74 trillion by 2020, with half of that market in energy efficiency.
It also notes that the energy supply sectors will be particularly important in terms of their environmental, economic, and employment impacts, particularly the renewable energy industry and those related to buildings, transportation, industry, agriculture, and forestry. The report notes that 2.3 million people have found renewable energy jobs in recent years, and projected investments of $630 billion by 2030 would translate into at least 20 million additional jobs.
The UNEP commissioned the report under the Green Jobs Initiative, which involves the International Labour Office, the International Trade Union Confederation, and the International Organization of Employers. See the press release and report on the UNEP Web site.
Looking closer to home, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released a report in early October that finds the U.S. economy currently generates more then 750,000 green jobs, while over the next 30 years, an emphasis on clean energy could cause that number to grow five-fold, to more than 4.2 million jobs.
Engineering, legal, research, and consulting jobs currently dominate the green jobs in the United States and could grow by 1.4 million by 2038, while renewable electricity production will create 1.23 million jobs, alternative transportation fuels will add 1.5 million jobs, and building retrofits will create another 81,000 jobs. The report notes that most of today’s jobs are in metropolitan areas, led by New York City; Washington, D.C.; Houston, Texas; and Los Angeles, California, and it lists current and projected green jobs by metropolitan area. See the press release (PDF 175 KB), key findings (PDF 59 KB), and the full report (PDF 788 KB).
One concern noted in the UNEP report is that too few green jobs are being created for the most vulnerable people, including the estimated 500 million youth who will be seeking work over the next 10 years. But Santa Fe, New Mexico, has launched a pilot "Green Collar Jobs Training Program" to address that very issue. Six at-risk youth spent the summer working with local businesses to learn green skills such as retrofitting low-income housing, installing solar hot water heating systems, and applying innovative green building techniques. The successful program coupled on-the-job training with academic skill building and job counseling, and could serve as a model for similar programs in other cities. The City of Santa Fe teamed with the Santa Fe Business Alliance and ¡YouthWorks!, a non-profit organization, to create the pilot program. See the city’s press release and the ¡YouthWorks! Web site.
Clean Energy Projects Dodge the Global Credit Crunch
Under the ongoing global financial crisis, a lack of available credit is causing projects to be delayed or cancelled, but the clean energy sector is continuing to attract substantial amounts of investment capital. Ernst & Young noted in early October that the global "clean technology" market is expected to garner 11% of global venture capital investment in 2008, up from only 1.6% in 2003. And while the clean technology market attracted $3 billion in investments in 2007, it attracted $2.2 billion in just the first half of 2008.
Over that 18-month period, the United States accounted for the majority of the venture capital investments, raising a total of $4.1 billion. According to Ernst & Young, there are 549 global clean technology companies supported with $8.9 billion of venture capital, and the United States has 301 of them, representing $7.29 billion in investments. In the United States, the clean technology sector is dominated by solar energy and biofuel companies. See the Ernst & Young press release.
According to Greentech Media, Inc., the venture capital boom for clean energy continued to grow in the third quarter of 2008. Greentech Media’s figures roughly agree with Ernst & Young for the first half of the year, with an estimated $2.3 billion in venture capital investments, but Greentech Media’s figures for the third quarter show a record investment of $2.8 billion.
The company notes that most of the investments ($1.5 billion) went toward solar energy, with innovative thin-film solar firms such as SoloPower and AVA Solar receiving more than $100 million each in venture capital. Other technologies that attracted high amounts of venture capital include energy efficiency, smart grids, geothermal energy, automotive technologies, biofuels, and wind power. See the Greentech Media press release (PDF 121 KB). Download Adobe Reader.
Given the amount of investment taking place, it makes sense that the American Council on Renewable Energy maintains a directory of financing sources for renewable energy and energy efficiency companies and projects in the United States. The Renewable Energy Finance and Investment Network (REFIN) is a listing of both financing sources and professional experts, including venture capital firms, commercial banks, private equity firms, government agencies, and foundations, as well as law and consultant firms. First released in 2004, the REFIN directory will be updated this month and quarterly thereafter. See the REFIN directory.
New Jersey to Develop a 345-Megawatt Offshore Wind Power Project
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) announced on October 3 that it has selected Garden State Offshore Energy (GSOE) – a joint venture of PSEG Renewable Generation and Deepwater Wind -to develop a 345.6 MW wind project off the coast of New Jersey. The BPU awarded a $4 million grant to GSOE, of which $400,000 will be paid upfront to conduct studies and to prepare the permit applications for the $1 billion facility.
It will consist of 96 wind turbines located 16-20 miles off the shore of Atlantic City and will barely be visible from the shore. According to the BPU, construction could begin in 2010 at the earliest, while PSEG hopes to start generating power in 2012, achieving full commercial operation in 2013. See the press releases from the New Jersey BPU (PDF 25 KB) and GSOE (PDF 200 KB) and the GSOE Web site.
A report prepared for the BPU in September by Global Insight examined the potential costs and benefits of a wind facility located off the shore of New Jersey and concluded that the facility would provide more than 1% of the state’s electricity needs. A facility located far from shore, as the GSOE project will be, is expected to have minimal impacts on tourism, property values, and fisheries, with the greatest fisheries impacts occurring during construction.
The study also found that an offshore wind facility could improve the state’s image and create wind jobs. Encouraged by the new project and the study, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine announced his plan to triple the state’s goal for offshore wind power, aiming for 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2020. See the Global Insight study (PDF 1.1 MB) and the governor’s press release.
World’s First Wave Energy Project Goes Commercial
The world’s first commercial wave energy facility has begun operations in Portugal, after Babcock & Brown, Energias de Portugal, Efacec, and Pelamis Wave Power inaugurated the facility in late September. Located about 3 miles off the coast, the facility consists of three Pelamis Wave Energy Convertors, which each consist of four large semi-submerged cylinders connected to each other by hinged joints and moored to the ocean floor.
As waves pass, the hinges bend, driving hydraulic rams that pump high-pressure oil through hydraulic motors to generate power. Each Pelamis device can generate 750 kilowatts of power, so the current facility can produce 2.25 megawatts. Future plans call for the addition of another 25 devices, bringing the total capacity of the facility to 21 megawatts. See the press release from Pelamis Wave Power.
Tidal energy technologies are also advancing, and in late September, ScottishPower Renewables announced its plans to develop the world’s largest tidal stream projects. The company is evaluating three separate coastal sites in Scotland and Ireland, each of which could be outfitted with 5-20 tidal turbines. Each turbine has a capacity of 1 megawatt, so the three sites have a potential to offer a combined capacity of 60 megawatts. The projects will employ the Lanstram tidal turbine, an underwater open turbine developed by Hammerfest Stram AS. The developments should give people plenty to talk about at the International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE) 2008, which starts today in France. See the Scottish Power press release and the ICOE 2008 Web site.
Honda Hybrid and Smart EV Unveiled at Paris Motor Show
The Paris Motor Show, or "Mondial de l’Automobile" – typically the venue for supercars from such automakers as Bugatti and Ferrari – features a number of hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) this year, a tectonic shift that led a New York Times blogger to ask, "Who killed the non-electric cars?"
While many of the entries are unlikely to cross the Atlantic to the United States, a new Honda hybrid is certain to arrive here soon, and the odds are also good for a Smart EV. Honda actually revived an old name, unveiling a concept version of the new and improved Honda Insight at the auto show.
Although it resembles a Toyota Prius, Honda says the vehicle shares styling cues with its FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle. And while the old Insight was a two-seater, the new version is a sedan that will seat five. Honda expects to sell 200,000 Insights per year in North America, Europe, and Japan once the vehicle goes on sale in spring 2009. Expect more details in January, when Honda unveils the production version at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. See the Honda press Release and Web site.
Among the other major automakers, Daimler arrived at the Paris Motor Show with the smart fortwo electric drive, which features a lithium- ion battery pack. Daimler plans to test the vehicle in Berlin, Germany, and begin limited production of the vehicle in late 2009, but the company has not announced plans to sell the vehicle in the United States. Meanwhile, General Motors Corporation (GM) unveiled the Chevrolet Cruze, a small car slated for production and sale in the United States, and the Saab 9-X Air Biohybrid concept, a convertible with a hybrid powertrain that can be fueled with ethanol-rich E85. See the Daimler Media press release, and the GM press releases about the Chevrolet Cruze and the 9-X Air Biohybrid.
The Paris Motor Show also features its share of exotic electric vehicles, including one from Venturi, the Monaco-based electric car company that introduced its "Fétish" back in 2005. Venturi unveiled the new Volage, a futuristic sports car that matches a lithium-polymer battery pack with in-wheel motors as well as in-wheel electric shock absorbers, designed by Michelin. The result is a lightweight vehicle that does away with heavy transmission and suspension components, and although the vehicle looks like a concept, it is fully functional and intended for production in 2012.
Venturi has also finalized its design of a city electric car, the Eclectic, which will go on sale next year, and is also displaying the Astrolab, a solar electric concept car, and the Berlingo, an electric utility vehicle. Meanwhile, Pininfarina, the Italian company responsible for the styling of many Ferraris and Maseratis, has introduced its own electric vehicle concept, the B0 (that’s "B Zero," not "B Oh"). The four-seat hatchback features a solid-state lithium-polymer battery, supercapacitors, and a roof- integrated solar panel to achieve a range of 153 miles. Developed in partnership with the Bolore Group, the vehicle is slated for limited production in 2009. The Paris Motor Show is open to the public through Sunday, October 19. See the Venturi press release, the press kit (PDF 79 KB) and Web site for the Volage, the Pininfarina press Release and B0 Web site, and the Mondial de l’Automobile Web site.
Requests for Nuclear Loan Guarantees Far Exceed Funds
Electric utilities and energy companies hope to build 21 new nuclear reactors at 14 nuclear power plants, but their plans may be stymied by a lack of available credit. Most industry experts believe that federal loan guarantees are necessary to help rejuvenate the stalled nuclear power industry, which hasn’t built a new nuclear reactor in three decades. With that in mind, the DOE Loan Guarantee Program offered $18.5 billion in loan guarantees in a June solicitation, but the received applications add up to $122 billion, or more than six times the available loan guarantees. DOE will request more detailed applications to help select which projects will receive the loan guarantees.
The $122 billion figure represents just 65% of the total cost of $188 billion for the 21 reactors. That works out to nearly $9 billon per reactor. The 21 reactors would provide an additional 28,800 megawatts of nuclear power capacity, for an average capacity per reactor of 1,371 megawatts, at a cost of about $6.6 million per megawatt. See the DOE press release.
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Kevin Eber is the Editor of EREE Network News, a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
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