Green technology ???could help create 250,000 jobs'

Green technology ‘could help create 250,000 jobs’(By Simon Ross via Belfast Telegraph)The report says almost 250,000 jobs could be created by wind and wave power

aloneWind and wave power could generate up to £70bn for the UK economy,

according to a new report from the Carbon Trust.The report, which focuses on the economic benefit of new energy

technologies, said that almost 250,000 jobs could be created by wind and

wave power alone.Part of the Trust’s Clean Tech Revolution campaign, the study concluded the

UK could seize 45% of the global offshore wind market by 2020, delivering

£65bn to the economy and 220,000 jobs by 2050. To do this will need at

least £600m to be spent on research and development and new incentives to

accelerate deployment of offshore wind power around British coasts.The report also claimed that, with a quarter of the world's wave

technologies being developed in the UK, the country could generate revenues

worth £2bn a year from the market and up to 16,000 direct jobs.Offshore wind and wave power can provide at least 15% of the total carbon

savings required to meet the UK’s 2050 targets, it said.Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: “These technologies

are not green 'nice to haves' but are critical to the economic recovery of

the UK. To reap the significant rewards from their successful development

we must prioritise and comprehensively back the technologies that offer the

best chance of securing long term carbon savings, jobs and revenue for

Britain.The campaign is backed by businesses, investors, scientists and NGOs,

including Northern Ireland’s own Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries.Sales manager David McVeigh said the former shipbuilding giant has already

recognised the opportunities in renewable energy.He said: “Our investment in this sector has resulted in our busiest

activity level for many years, building offshore wind farm foundations such

as jackets, monopiles and gravity bases. We continue to invest in R&D,

training, facilities and plant in order to take advantage of this

escalating opportunity.“In the UK, we have all the right ingredients; reliable wind, wave and

tidal resource in reasonably shallow water, close to population centres

that need energy. We also have the engineering know-how and the political

desire to see it happen.”He added: “There’s a great industrial base in Northern Ireland and I have

no doubt there are some companies here who could take advantage of this,

not just the big companies. From a business perspective somebody is going

to do it so why not us.”The Carbon Trust report comes just a week after a group of Northern Ireland

business organisations, charities and NGOs launched their vision of a

‘Green New Deal’.The group, which includes Friends of the Earth and the CBI NI, proposed

measures to cut fossil fuels, improve home insulation, secure the energy

supply and build a competitive low carbon economy. It estimated that 24,000

jobs could be created in the province if the government put its weight

behind the green economy.For the very latest in UK green jobs or the best green jobs from around the

world please click here