Overview

Renewable energy meets about 13% of global energy demand and 6% in the USA. Of the 13%, nearly 80% comes from biomass, which mainly relates to non-commercial uses in Asia.

Source: Renewable Energy Annual 2003

Hydropower is the second largest renewable power with a market share of 2.3%. Geothermal, wind and solar energy provide the remainder. Wind energy installation in 1999 was estimated to be 3,600MW globally (source: American Wind Energy Association) yielding a total installed capacity worldwide of 13,400MW. Of the 3,600MW installed in 1999, the largest markets are estimated as Germany (1200MW), USA (905MW) and Spain (650MW). Solar electric installations totaled 200MW in 1999, 280MW in 2000 and 340MW by 2001 and 427MW in 2002. While growing at a rapid pace, solar electric energy globally still only accounts for around 0.1% of primary energy demand. However, this means that relatively small increases in market penetration by solar energy as costs decline, lead to very rapid growth rates in this industry.

In 1995, over 45,000 jobs were directly or indirectly related to energy efficiency and renewable energy programs and that number has grown rapidly in the intervening years. The subject pages listed here outline the prospects for jobs in the renewable energy industries or check out our directory to find out about renewable energy businesses, associations and useful government links.

Check the individual links above for more information on jobs in solar and other renewable energy technologies.