Archive 2008

Moving from principles to action for energy supply that mitigates against climate change requires a long-term perspective. Energy infrastructure takes time to build up; new energy technologies take time to develop. Policy shifts often also need many years to take effect. In most world regions the transformation from fossil to renewable energies will require additional investment and higher supply costs over about twenty years

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archives 2008 archive regional scenarios 2008 oecd north america employment effects

employment effects

There are 694,000 power sector jobs in the [R]evolution scenario in OECD North America in 2010, compared to 665,000 in the Reference scenario.
In 2020, job numbers reach over 1.3 million in the [R]evolution scenario, 600,000 more than in the Reference scenario.
Job numbers climb slightly in the [R]evolution scenario by 2030,to nearly 1.4 million, and reach nearly 0.8 million in the Reference scenario.

There are more power sector jobs in OECD North America in the[R]evolution scenario at every stage.

Figure 3.10 shows the change in job numbers under both scenarios for each technology between 2010 and 2020, and 2020 and 2030.Both scenarios show losses in coal generation, but these are outweighed by employment growth in renewable technologies and gas. Wind shows particularly strong growth in the [R]evolution scenario at 2020, but by 2030 there is significant employment in a portfolio of renewable technologies.

It is assumed that all manufacturing occurs within OECD North America, and that the region exports just under 10% of globally traded renewable energy components. In the [R]evolution scenario export jobs reach 5% of the total power sector jobs in 2020, and stay at that level. In the Reference scenario export jobs do not even reach 1%.