Blueprint for an Energy Revolution Replete with Jobs

As we worry about a double-dip and where the jobs are going to come from if we have a sustained recovery, we should pay attention to the jobs potential of renewable energy. In a new report by Greenpeace International and the European Renewable Energy Council it is clear that clean energy is better than business as usual from a jobs perspective.

The report is basically a scenario that shows that by 2050 around 95% of electricity could be produced by renewable energy. Global CO2 emissions under the Energy [R]evolution scenario would peak in 2015 and drop afterwards. Compared with 1990 CO2 emissions will be more than 80% lower by 2050 if the energy supply is based almost entirely on renewable energies. And even better are the jobs that are created in that period.

The report shows how to create about 12 million jobs, with 8.5 million in the renewables sector alone, by 2030. Under business as usual, global renewable power jobs would be only 2.4 million of the global power sector's 8.7 million jobs. By implementing a more aggressive Energy [R]evolution 3.2 million or over 33% more jobs globally will be created.

How? The reality is that a sustainable energy future is rooted in investment in people and local communities who can install and maintain renewable sources, rather than further subsidising capital-intensive, dirty and finite fossil fuels like deep offshore oil with all its robots.

Shine on!