Renewable energy jobs: status, prospects and policies

This working paper shows that large-scale renewable energy electricity and biofuels for transport industries involve a large variety of jobs, which differ in skill levels required, and may also differ according to the supply chain of technologies. Although data information is incomplete, 2010 estimates placed gross employment at over 3.5 million (REN21). Of these jobs, 630,000 were related to the wind industry; 350,000 to the solar PV industry; and as much as 1.5 million to biofuels. The majority of jobs are currently located in a small number of major economies – China, Brazil, Germany, India and the United States. Some countries have significant employment across a wide range of renewable energy technologies, whereas in others employment is clustered around a particular technology, such as wind power in Denmark or ethanol in Brazil.