Jobs from Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

The document outlines the job creation potential of the clean energy economy, citing that renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) industries created over nine million jobs in the U.S. in 2007. It provides specific employment projections for various technologies, including wind, solar, bioenergy, and geothermal, across U.S. states and international markets such as Germany, Brazil, and India. The text also compares these figures to employment trends in the fossil fuel and nuclear sectors and details U.S. legislative efforts, such as the Green Jobs Act of 2007 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to support workforce training and clean energy deployment.

• In 2007, the renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) industries in the United States created more than nine million direct and indirect jobs, with 450,000 in RE and 8 million in EE. Projections suggest that by 2030, as many as 37 million jobs—representing one in four U.S. workers—will be in these industries, spanning manufacturing, construction, accounting, and management.
• Clean energy jobs grew at a national rate of 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, significantly outpacing the 3.7 percent growth rate of traditional jobs. Additionally, renewable energy is found to create more jobs per megawatt of power installed, per unit of energy produced, and per dollar of investment than the fossil fuel sector.
• Global employment in renewable energy industries reached 2.3 million people in 2006, with the biomass and biofuels sector accounting for over 1 million of those jobs. Future projections for 2030 suggest the potential for 6.3 million jobs in solar PV, 2.1 million in wind energy, and 12 million in biofuels-related agriculture and industry worldwide.
• Specific U.S. state-level initiatives show significant job potential: Texas could add 123,000 high-wage jobs by 2020 through solar power; Florida could create over 14,000 jobs by 2023 via energy efficiency; and California's energy efficiency policies created nearly 1.5 million jobs between 1977 and 2007.
• The U.S. ethanol industry supported 238,541 jobs across all economic sectors in 2007 and employed 494,177 people in 2008, with a prediction that it will create one million new jobs by 2022.
• U.S. legislative actions have targeted green job creation, including the Green Jobs Act of 2007, which established worker training and research programs, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which is expected to create more than 500,000 jobs and accelerate smart grid deployment.
• In contrast to the growth in clean energy, U.S. coal mining employment has declined steadily from 184,373 jobs in 1985 to 84,071 in 2007, despite an increase in coal output over the same two-decade period.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2009). Jobs from Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. https://www.eesi.org/files/101909_jobs_factsheet.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Jobs from Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. 2009. https://www.eesi.org/files/101909_jobs_factsheet.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Jobs from Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency |date=October 2009 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/101909_jobs_factsheet.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2009jobs, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Jobs from Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2009}, month = oct, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/101909_jobs_factsheet.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }