Renewable power requirement could jump start manufacturing

Renewable power requirement could jump start manufacturing(By Zaher Karp

via Reuters)With new clean technologies being brought to light in the dim light of a

global economic recession, a new study forecasts that an increase in

renewable energy would help to get people back to work by creating

manufacturing jobs. An alliance of non-profit organizations together called

for economic stimulus through a substantially higher renewable electricity

standard.A new report released by the Blue Green Alliance, directly links the

development of a renewable electricity standard to the creation of 850,000

manufacturing jobs. The figure takes several factors into consideration,

linking renewable development to fossil fuels in terms of job production.According to studies performed over the past seven years, by organizations

California Energy Commission and the Berkeley Center for Renewable Energy,

renewable sources generate greater employment, four to six times as many

(per megawatt), when compared to equivalent investments in fossil fuels.

The report postulates that a 25-percent requirement of 18,500 MWs of power

from wind, solar, geothermal and biomass by 2025 would create jobs for a

group that are the "backbone of the middle class," according to David

Foster, the Blue Green Alliance's Executive Director.Foster added that the creation of these new jobs is necessary to combat the

"devastating downturn in domestic manufacturing." The government would be

"leaving jobs on the table," according to Debbie Sease, National Campaigns

Director at the Sierra Club, with "75% of new green jobs ending up in China

[or] Europe," per Michael Peck of the MAPA Group.Peck emphasized the need for progression in raising a renewable standard

with a 12-percent renewable electricity standard by 2012, creating 70,000

new jobs and assisting the growth of existing companies and start-ups.

Nearly half of the manufacturing jobs lost in the automotive industry could

be recovered through a renewable standard.A study released earlier this month by the University of California at

Berkeley revealed that California alone could create half a million jobs by

2050 if they converted to 50-percent renewable energy combined with other

studies may act as beacons towards standard establishment. Just as the

energy market is changing, so are the facilities that produce their

required materials and components.Organizations that once made equipment vital to certain fossil fuel

extraction or refinement will receive a further push towards supplying

clean technology with the advent of a higher electricity standard.As the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is working towards

finalizing major energy legislation this week, the renewable electricity

standard has reached 15-percent, though a quarter of that would be from

retrofitting/efficiency measures, but it may be insufficient to restart the

manufacturing sector. Under the darkening clouds of climate change and

global economic recession, policymakers must consider the ties between

renewable energy and new jobs in a battered sector.For the latest manufacturing jobs in renewable energy please click here