RenewableS 2013 GlObal STaTUS RePORT - REN21

Sidebar 4. Jobs in Renewable Energy
An estimated 5.7 million people worldwide work directly or indirectly
i in the renewable energy sector, based on a wide range
of studies, principally from the period 2009–2012. (See Table
1.) This global figure should not be understood as a direct, yearon-year
comparison with the 5 million jobs estimate published
in GSR 2012, but rather as an ongoing effort to refine the data.
Global numbers remain incomplete, methodologies are not
harmonised, and the different studies used are of uneven
quality. The global renewable energy workforce encompasses
a broad variety of jobs and occupations, ranging from low- to
very high-skilled.
Although a growing number of countries is investing in renewable
energy, the bulk of employment remains concentrated in
a relatively small number of countries, including Brazil, China,
India, the members of the EU, and the United States. These are
the major manufacturers of equipment, producers of bioenergy
feedstock, and leading installers of production capacity.
Employment is growing in other countries as well, and there are
increasing numbers of jobs (technicians and sales staff) in the
off-grid sector of the developing world. For example, selling,
installing, and maintaining small PV panels in rural Bangladesh
provide livelihoods directly for as many as 70,000 people; some
150,000 people are employed directly and indirectly.
By technology, the largest number of jobs, about 1.38 million,
is currently in the biofuels value chain—mostly in cultivating
and harvesting feedstock, where jobs fluctuate seasonally.
Brazil’s sugarcane-based ethanol industry is the largest
biofuels employer, but increasing mechanisation of feedstock
harvesting has reduced the number of direct jobs in sugarcane
and ethanol processing to 579,000 in 2011.
With the exception of EU data, the estimates for biomass heat
and power are quite soft and dated. Geothermal and hydropower
data in Table 1 are based on rough calculations. For solar
heating/cooling, there are significant discrepancies among
available sources, and estimates range from 375,000 jobs
globally to 800,000 for China alone.
Although the growth of jobs in the wind industry has slowed
somewhat globally, employment in solar PV has surged in
recent years. Yet solar PV is experiencing turbulence, as massive
overcapacities and tumbling prices have caused layoffs
and bankruptcies on the manufacturing side, while allowing
sharp increases in the ranks of installers.
Hit hard by economic crisis and adverse policy changes,
Spanish renewable energy employment fell from 133,000 jobs
in 2008 to 120,000 in 2011. The CSP industry at first offset a
portion of the job loss, but it is in trouble itself now due to policy
changes, with employment falling below 18,000 in 2012. In
France, 17% of renewable energy jobs were lost between 2010
and 2012, principally in solar PV and geothermal heat pumps.
Germany lost 23,000 solar PV jobs in 2012, but added 17,000
wind power jobs.
In the United States, solar employment related to installations is
soaring, while the number of wind and biofuels jobs fluctuates
in response to policy changes and other factors. For example,
U.S. biofuels employment declined from 181,300 to 173,600
in 2012 due to soaring feedstock prices, a drought-induced
decline in yield, and lower demand.
Overall, aggregate worldwide renewable energy employment
continues to increase in a dynamic—albeit somewhat tumultuous—process
that entails both gains and losses in different
parts of the world.
Table 1. Estimated Direct and Indirect Jobs in Renewable Energy Worldwide, by Industry
Technologies Global China EU Brazil United India Germany Spain
States
Thousand Jobs
Biomass a 753 266 274 152 f 58 57 39
Biofuels 1,379 24 109 804 e 217 g 35 23 4
Biogas 266 90 71 85 50 1
Geothermal a 180 51 35 14 0.3
Hydropower (small) b 109 24 8 12 7 2
Solar PV 1,360 300 d 312 90 112 88 12
CSP 53 36 17 2 34 j
Solar heating/ cooling 892 800 32 12 41 11 1
Wind power 753 267 270 29 81 48 118 28
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Total c 5,745 1,747 1,179 833 611 391 378 h 120
a Power and heat applications. b Employment information for large-scale hydropower is incomplete, and therefore focuses on small hydro. Although 10 MW
is often used as a threshold, definitions are inconsistent across countries. c Derived from the totals of each renewable energy technology. d Estimates run
as high as 500,000. e About 365,000 jobs in sugarcane and 213,400 in ethanol processing in 2011; also includes 200,000 indirect jobs in manufacturing
the equipment needed to harvest and refine sugar cane into biofuels, and 26,000 jobs in biodiesel. f Bio-power direct jobs run only to 15,500. g Includes
173,600 jobs for ethanol and 42,930 for biodiesel in 2012. h Includes 9,400 jobs in publicly funded R&D and administration; not broken down by technology.
j 2011 estimate by the Spanish Renewable Energy Association (APPA); Protermosolar offers a somewhat lower figure for the same year (28,850 jobs) and finds
that the number fell to 17,816 in 2012.
i Direct jobs are those related to a sector’s core activities, such as manufacturing, equipment distribution, and site preparation and installation, whereas
indirect jobs are those that supply the industry.
Notes: Data are principally for 2009–2012, with dates varying by country and technology. Totals may not add up due to rounding.
Source: IRENA, Renewable Energy and Jobs (Abu Dhabi: 2013).
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