A report published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has shown that across the globe, employment in renewable energy industries grew by 5% over the course of 2015.
The boost in jobs was caused largely by huge growth in renewables in the US, where the number of people employed in the sector far outweighed the number employed in fossil fuel industries.
Last year in the US, there were around 769,000 people working in the green energy sector (mostly in solar and wind), while there were just 187,000 working in oil and gas and even fewer (68,000) working in coal mining. These figures represent a 20% increase in the number of people employed in the renewable sector over the year, compared to an 18% drop in the number employed in the oil and gas sector.
The US fossil fuels sector has been struggling with low commodity prices, despite a boost in the country’s natural gas industry, as various government policies gave a helping hand to various green industries.
IRENA, in what is now their third annual review into renewable energy and jobs, found that across the world, an estimated 8.1 million people were employed in various renewable energy industries. This represents an increase of 5% from the previous year. The report also found that “an additional 1.3 million people are employed in large hydropower”.
The growth was slower than has been seen in previous years, but the fact that the raw number increased was seen as a positive, “in stark contrast with depressed labour markets in the broader energy sector”. Falling oil prices has a significant impact on jobs in the energy sector worldwide.
Adnan Amin, director general of IRENA said: “The continued job growth in the renewable energy sector is significant because it stands in contrast to trends across the energy sector.”
And Friends of the Earth US’ Ben Schreiber said similarly that: “Even without a price on carbon, renewable enrgy is competing with dirty energy and winning. The question isn’t whether renewable energy supplants fossil fuels, but whether fossil fuel companies can delay the transition long enough to destroy the climate.”
While the number of jobs in renewables increased worldwide, it continued to fall in Europe, where many green industries have been struggling with reducing subsidies.
Within the European Union, the largest number of jobs were in wind power, with Germany, the UK and Denmark leading the charge both in total number of jobs, both within Europe and, in terms of offshore wind, globally.
The UK was Europe’s leading employer in the solar PV industry, but IRENA warned that “cuts in feed-in tariffs for residential rooftops in the United Kingdom could result in a loss of 4,500 to 8,700 solar jobs.”
When it came to renewables generally though, Germany was far ahead of the rest of Europe, with almost as many jobs as France, the UK and Italy combined.
“Countries with the highest number of renewable energy jobs were China, Brazil, the United States, India, Japan and Germany” the report said. Asia held the largest share of jobs in renewables, at 60% of the global total.
In terms of specific industries, wind and solar saw the biggest increases. 2.8 million people are employed across the world in the solar PV industry – 11% more than in 2014. And “strong installation rates in China, the United States and Germany resulted in a 5% increase in global employment” in wind power.
Jobs in biofuels fell, largely due to many of the process being mechanised, but it continued to be an important employer as well as an important source of power.
