The report, Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2016, also provides a global estimate of the number of jobs supported by large hydropower, with a conservative estimate of an additional 1.3 million direct jobs worldwide.
Advertisement
Irena director general, Adnan Amin, said: “The continued job growth in the [global] renewable energy sector is significant because it stands in contrast to trends across the energy sector”.
“The demand for skilled professionals in renewables is going to increase exponentially and the greatest learning and training experience is when people start their own local company and acquire the skills to make it profitable”, he said.
Renewables employment in the U.S. increased by 6% past year, reaching 769,000 people, driven by a boom in solar and wind. In China, renewables employed 3.5m people, while oil and gas employed 2.6m.
As in previous years, enabling policy frameworks remained a key driver of employment. National and state auctions in India and Brazil, tax credits in the USA and favorable policies in Asia have all contributed to employment increases.
It is followed by Brazil, the US, India, Japan and Germany.
Not surprisingly, solar PV is the biggest generator of employment in the sector, with 2.8 million jobs worldwide, an 11 per cent increase on last count. Renewables jobs growth was driven by rises of 22% and 21%, respectively in solar and wind employment.
In Japan, however, despite a 28 per cent increase to 377,000 jobs linked to renewables, there was a likelihood of job losses next year. Almost 3 million people work in the solar sector alone – an 11 percent jump from 2015.
If country climate pledges are met, there will be over 24 million jobs by 2030, IRENA projects. Clean jobs dropped 3% to reach 1.17 million in 2014, with the wind sector accounting for the majority of them. Employment is stable in China, and is down in the European Union.
The solar industry’s jobs growth was twelve times that of the wider American economy, and the sector now employs more than oil & gas extraction, which supports 187,000.
Wind power capacity grew by 17 per cent, or 63 GW, and solar power capacity rose by 37 per cent, or 47 GW, after prices of solar modules fell, it said.
In Europe, solar PV employment in 2015 was a third of its peak in 2011, as economic problems led to subsidy cuts and as solar panel manufacturing moved to Asia. With South Australia and Portugal recently leading such initiatives, it will remain to be seen if the world can eventually convert to air or solar power full-time – but, rest assured, we will aim to be amongst the first to let you know of any developments!
Advertisement
Bahamas Minister of Environment and Housing, Kenred Dorsett, has been appointed to the chairmanship of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
