Jobs in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

The document provides a detailed breakdown of jobs in clean energy, contrasting them with fossil fuel employment in the U.S. and highlighting global leaders like China and Brazil. It details specific employment numbers for solar, wind, biomass, and energy efficiency subsectors, while noting the methodological challenges in comparing data from different sources.

• In the first quarter of 2016, the clean energy industry in the United States—which encompasses energy efficiency, smart grid, energy storage, renewable power generation, renewable fuels, and electric/hybrid/hydrogen vehicles—directly employed 3,384,834 Americans.
• The U.S. fossil fuel industry, including coal, natural gas, petroleum, and internal combustion engine vehicle manufacturing, directly employed 2,989,844 Americans in Q1 2016.
• The energy efficiency sector in the U.S. was a major employer, with the appliance industry being the largest provider of jobs, employing 1,400,511 people. The sector predicted a job growth rate of 9 to 11 percent for 2017.
• U.S. renewable energy employment varies by source: the DOE reported 677,544 direct jobs in Q1 2016, while IRENA estimated 769,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2015. Solar was the largest subsector, with USEER reporting 373,807 direct jobs.
• Globally, there were approximately 8,079,000 direct and indirect jobs in renewable energy at the end of 2015. Solar PV was the largest global subsector with around 2,772,000 jobs, followed by liquid biofuels (1,678,000) and wind power (1,081,000).
• China is the global leader in renewable energy employment with roughly 3,523,000 direct and indirect jobs, leading in seven different sectors including solar PV (1,652,000 jobs) and large hydropower (over 442,000 jobs).
• Brazil holds the second largest number of renewable energy jobs worldwide (918,000), dominated by the liquid biofuel industry, which employs around 821,000 people.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2017). Jobs in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet_REEE_Jobs_021517.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Jobs in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. 2017. https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet_REEE_Jobs_021517.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Jobs in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency |date=February 2017 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet_REEE_Jobs_021517.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2017jobs, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Jobs in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2017}, month = feb, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet_REEE_Jobs_021517.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }