The green jobs boom in renewable energy

Take a look at virtually any international job board and you’ll find: “Green” jobs are flourishing. Though still a niche, they’re at the cutting-edge of development assistance, providing ample opportunity for aid workers to advance sustainable growth around the world. Green jobs come in many colors. They’re in agriculture, manufacturing, environmental conservation, and research and development. They help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce energy, materials and water consumption, and minimize waste and pollution. On any given day, the Devex jobs board – the largest in international development – lists a plethora of opportunities for everyone from watershed managers to experts in reforestation, sewage and sustainable agriculture. Particularly growing is the demand in the area of renewable energy – the United Nations declaring 2012 the “Year of Sustainable Energy for All” is evidence that this is an idea whose time has come. Recent jobs advertised on the Devex website include a senior development associate for energy and climate, impact evaluation and climate change specialists, and a senior energy economist in Iraq, among many others. Many of these posts are for highly skilled professionals with hands-on experience in the renewable energy sector, be it in the private sector or as a government official with a track record in policymaking or oversight. But skilled project managers, economists and finance experts with international experience can also make the jump to a clean energy career, insiders say. For younger professionals and those eager to shift career tracks, there are master’s degrees and advanced training courses that didn’t exist even a few years ago. A growing green economy Global investment in renewable energy increased more than six-fold between 2004 and ‘11, to a record $246 billion, according to Clean Edge Inc.’s “Clean Energy Trends 2012” report, a widely cited analysis of the clean-energy marketplace. In the same time frame, the solar, biofuel and wind industries nearly tripled in size and could employ 20 million by 2030, according to the United Nations Environment Program. Right now, most of that work force is located in industrialized countries and employed by the private sector – but that could change as developing countries tap their vast natural resources with the help of international investors and financing mechanisms such as the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds and the Global Environment Facility. Already, official development assistance accounts for roughly 15 percent of total global investment in renewables, according to experts at Germany’s development ministry, a leading bilateral donor together with Japan and the United States. Many donors – including China, the European Union and regional development banks – have been upping their investments. The bulk of ODA now goes to Asia, followed by Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Countries poor in fossil fuels are often rich in the resources needed to power solar panels and wind turbines or to create corn-, sugar- or algae-based biofuels – a particular growth sector that may result in food security challenges. Many developing countries are especially suited to small, decentralized, off- or mini-grid energy systems, or to the use of mini-hydro plants, biomass, geothermal and tidal power. Even though the private sector will continue to dominate the renewable energy field, aid agencies will continue to play a crucial role through investments, policy advice, capacity building and technical assistance. To a large degree, development professionals will help to avoid the socio-economic and environmental consequences some big fossil fuel-driven projects have become infamous for in the past. “ODA is filling an important gap that will eventually enable the private sector to enter the equation in hard-to-access regions,” says Ulrich Mans, a political analyst at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany. In places like Northern Africa and the Middle East, technical assistance is crucial to setting up regulatory and policy frameworks, kick-starting local production and establishing on-the-ground professional networks, Mans explains. Such assistance is particularly needed in rural areas, says Ulrike Lehr, a renewable energy expert at the German Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftliche Strukturforschung, also known as the Institute of Economic Structures Research. “If growth rates, say in Africa, conform to predictions,” she says, “this is going to be a critical aspect of development work for at least the next 10 to 15 years.” Key for developing countries will be the transfer of knowledge and technology. “It’s really not the choice of either technology transfer on the on hand or indigenous innovation on the other,” says Jonathan Coony, head of the World Bank’s Climate Innovation Centers. “It’s a question of blending the two.” Who’s working in renewable energy? By any account, renewable energy is a fast-evolving sector in the field of international development. The experience and skills necessary for carrying out assessments; formulating project strategies; producing, installing, operating and maintaining technology; ensuring financial sustainability; building local capacity; as well as creating R&D capacities are all in high demand. Technical assistance is often spearheaded by large international consultancies or infrastructure firms in partnership with local counterparts and construction companies. Organizations like AF-Mercados EMI of Spain, Germany’s SGI Biopower and Luxemboug’s Innpact, for instance, have all worked on bilateral and multilateral projects; other recent prime contractors include the U.K.‘s IT Power Group and PA Consulting Group as well as the U.S.’s GFA Consulting Group and International Resources Group, among many others. The main implementer usually puts together a team of project managers, scientists, engineers, local liaisons and experts in R&D, finance and legal matters. Plant operators, technicians and maintenance staff are often hired locally. Many assignments call for seasoned professionals with a background in engineering, metrology, geology, public policy, project development, finance or research. Vocational skills are needed for system design, installation and construction. No one person has to have experience in all of these fields, but it helps to be conversant in more than one. “It’s not just about building a wind turbine,” says Richard Willis, the European Investment Bank’s spokesperson. “We’ve got to make sure it will be technologically feasible, secure, and financially sustainable. Our assessment and project development teams have to reflect that.” A large part of most renewable energy projects involves building local capacity and liaising with a variety of stakeholders — governments, manufacturers and dealers, financial intermediaries, recipients of technical assistance, technology suppliers and project developers among them. The World Bank, for example, together with the Danish aid agency Danida and UKAid, is planning to open a series of Climate Innovation Centers that train and provide funding for small and medium-size enterprises and entrepreneurs to scale up and deploy innovative clean technology solutions that meet local needs and create local jobs. The first one, with a 4-year budget of $15.2 million, is already on its feet in Kenya with 15 mostly local personnel. “We’re looking for innovation in business models that can take advantage of the revolution in clean technologies,” says Coony. Similarly, for aid workers to surge ahead in the constantly changing field of renewable energy, an innovative spirit and sharp business sense are essential. A combination of technical expertise and international field experience are equally important, experts say. Technical expertise in the field To some degree, each renewable technology requires a different kind of assistance to get it off the ground and make it sustainable. What’s needed for an off-shore wind park along the southern Mediterranean, for example, is different than the know-how required to set up a bio-fuel processing plant in Latin America. For a project involving solar photovoltaics, engineers and technicians are needed to process semiconductor materials for solar PV cells; other staff members will conduct resource assessments and spearhead system design. Geothermal power production requires civil engineering and deep drilling, as well as process engineering for heating and cooling technologies. As part of a wind power project, there may be on-site teams laying foundations, erecting turbine towers and assembling blades. Maintenance tends to require a specific skills set: from monitoring the smooth operation of turbines to cleaning the blades and calibrating electric sensors. The biofuels and biomass sectors are expected to be the biggest provider of renewables jobs in the years ahead. The International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi estimates that their work force could soar from 1.5 million in 2010 to 12 million in 2030. Where biofuel is produced with dedicated energy crops, agricultural experts are called for; when industrial waste is its source, collection and treatment skills are in demand. The expected increase in the refinement of ethanol and the processing of biodiesel will raise the demand for chemists, machine operators and engineers. Renewable energy training Renewable energy-related university degrees and training courses have mushroomed in the last decade. The Berlin-based Renewables Academy is one of many that teaches engineers, developers, investors, lawyers and decision-makers the fundamentals of solar PV, solar thermal, wind energy, bioenergy and energy efficiency. “The most essential thing is still educating the technicians who do operation and maintenance,” says Tina Völker, a Renac project director. “Very often, an investor or donor will come in and then leave soon after the installation is set up. So we need to train people to take over and run the systems when they’re gone.” Abu Dhabi’s IRENA focuses its training elsewhere. “The renewable energy market is driven by policies, and we try to get the officials from developing countries in touch with the very latest trends in the field,” says Hugo Lucas, who leads IRENA’s capacity building services. As funding grows, experts in renewable energy finance will be increasingly sought-after. In fact, the field may need a new kind of financial expert, “one that knows renewable energy and the specialized financial products that renewables require in developing economies,” Karlheinz Knickel says. “You can’t just apply the same methods for finance and microfinance that we’ve been using for years,” the head of the Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance explains. A young professional could gain this expertise in university courses, like those offered by the Frank School for Management and Finance; professionals with an established track record in finance and development may opt for a shorter, specialized training course. A seller’s market The private sector can serve as a great springboard for renewable energy work in international development – especially for those having worked at a big company doing business internationally. Then again, there are many paths toward a career in renewable energy. The head of the Germany development ministry’s energy unit, Franz Marre, for instance, has a background in program management rather than renewable energies. “The skills of a project manager are transferable,” he says. “You’ve got to look beyond your sector to find integrated solutions, and this requires experience in the field. It’s always possible to go outside for specific experience when it’s needed.” Professionals like Marre say they did a lot of brushing up on their own. “Renewables weren’t even on the map when I was learning economics,” says Lehr, an economist. Today Lehr is considered a prominent expert in the field. Yes, international job boards are replete with short-term assignments and full-time staff positions that fall into the category of “green jobs” in renewable energies. For the qualified job seeker, it’s a seller’s market. For mid-career professionals new to the field of renewable energy, there are possibilities, too, though usually additional training is required. For young professionals charting a career path, it’s an open field, with opportunities to specialize that were unthinkable just a few years ago.