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Renewables could spawn thousands of jobs, says report |
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24 Apr 2012, 7:53 PM
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New research by the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and Innovas reveals that the UK’s £12.5 billion renewables industry supports 110,000 jobs across supply chain, and could support 400,000 by 2020. ‘Renewable Energy: Made in Britain,’ was launched today, on the eve of the Clean Energy Ministerial Summit.
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REA and the report sponsors will hear from Energy Minister Greg Barker at the launch, which will take place at the award-winning headquarters of Renewable Energy Systems.
This report marks the first time that the turnover and employment figures of the entire UK renewables sector have been quantified and brought together in one place. The report finds that in 2010/11, the UK renewables industry was worth £12.5 billion and supported 110,000 jobs, with 400,000 in total required to meet the 2020 renewables targets. The report also reveals:
* the overall increase in market value from 2009/10 to 2010/11 was 11% - outstripping economic growth over the same period (1.4%) by a factor of eight;
* meeting our renewable energy targets would displace fossil fuels with a cumulative value of £60 billion to 2020, giving a significant boost to the UK’s balance of trade.
These findings come just days after the European Commission identified the green economy as a “key sector” offering “important job creation potential,” with renewables alone claimed to provide up to 3 million jobs across the EU to 2020 [5]. Just today, Friends of the Earth revealed results of a survey which found that “85 per cent of Brits would like to see the Government increasing the use of clean British energy and reducing the use of overseas gas”.
Launching the report, REA Chief Executive Gaynor Hartnell said:
“Harnessing our renewables creates employment and means that rather than spending money on energy imports we can keep it circulating in the UK economy. Government needs to take steps to build the skills base and keep the UK on track to meet its renewables targets. When it comes to the employment, economic and energy challenges we face, the answer is clear - make it renewable and make it in Britain.”
Gregory Barker, Minister of State for Climate Change, said: “Renewable energy not only provides us with clean and secure energy that cuts our reliance on imported fossil fuels - it generates billions of pounds of investment and potentially hundreds and thousands of jobs and is a key growth sector for the UK economy.
“The REA’s report sets out plainly the opportunities and challenges in this area. We are determined to seize the momentum and secure maximum benefit for the UK.”
Tim Yeo, REA President and Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee’s 2009 inquiry into ‘Green Jobs and Skills,’ said: “The growth of the renewable energy industry is a really positive story for the UK and this report provides a great synopsis of our current position and the opportunities for the future. The Government must lead the way with a clearer and more systematic approach to developing the skills required to ensure a shortage does not derail the industry’s continued expansion.”
The report makes it clear that the UK is facing challenges on several fronts, but that taking a joined-up approach which treats all of these problems together will create the single most important economic opportunity of this generation.
While the Government has shown strong leadership and made great strides in offshore wind and marine renewables, a framework is required which ensures link-up between all relevant departments to capitalise on the full range of benefits offered by renewables. This could be achieved by relaunching the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment, currently housed within DECC, as a cross-departmental office chaired by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Additional recommendations, outlined in full on p. 8 of the report, include:
* the appointment of a BIS Minister with a renewable energy remit;
* the recording of employment figures in renewables by the Office for National Statistics;
* the routine assessment of the economic benefits of renewable energy by HMT;
* and the publication of a national strategy for renewable energy skills.
This final point is crucial, as the skills “time bomb” is both a major obstacle to achieving the green growth vision, and also a major opportunity for putting disillusioned graduates, the unemployed, and those in low paid work into high value careers.
The report exposes the portrayal of renewable energy as being excessively subsidised in comparison with other energy sources as utterly wrong. Analysis from the International Energy Agency shows that globally renewables receive just one sixth of the subsidy of fossil fuels, while analysis from Ofgem and the Committee on Climate Change reveals that renewable energy policies have only added a fraction to energy bills compared to increases caused by spiking wholesale gas prices.
The report includes a regional breakdown which shows that the employment and economic opportunities are widely distributed across the country. It sets out over 30 case studies of UK innovation and manufacturing across over 15 technologies including:
* highly competitive manufacturing innovation in solar thermal;
* biofuels produced from waste;
* the deepest onshore wells ever to be drilled in the UK for the first deep geothermal power plant;
* the use of biomass heat to green Scotland's whisky industry and stabilise energy bills;
* pyrolysis and gasification producing clean synthetic gas from old tyres and hazardous wastes;
* green gas for truckers filling up on the M6;
* remanufacturing of Chinese solar cells into innovative building-integrated products;
* world-leading device innovation in marine energy systems;
* a start-up company that’s reached £25 million turnover in just five years.
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| Positive review of this story |
Lftrsuk  |
24 Apr 2012, 9:11 PM |
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The most efficient way to green jobs He's a card, that Gregory Barker - hundreds and thousands of jobs and a key growth sector for the UK. Maybe he should watch this video: http://finance.senate.gov/hearings/watch/?id=f408dd68-5056-a032-52c6-fa004e4a1b02
An energy economics expert will show Gregoryu the most efficient way of creating green jobs, which could mean that full employment in the UK is just around the corner. At 36:54, he says: - "The Green Jobs Rationale borders on the preposterous". To paraphrase: Governments should outlaw the use of heavy equipment for digging ditches and mandate the use of an army of workers using spoons...."There is no analytic difference between inefficient ditch digging and inefficient power generation as tools with which to pursue increased employment"
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