green job research

8/14/2019 Green Job Research

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Green jobs research paper

1. Results

2. What is a green job?

3. Sources and methodology

4. FAQs on figures

5. Detail on jobs

6. Details of projections until 2020

7. Appendix 1: list of publications used for study

1. Results

The study aimed to collect estimates of all jobs to be created in the green economy by

2020 and to estimate the proportion of jobs created in 2009 that were green. The

results are:

1. Over 10,000 green jobs have been announced in 2009.1

2. Of all jobs announced in 2009, 60% are green economy jobs.2

3. Green jobs are projected to grow by 23000 to 55000 by 2020 from a base of

6500 in 20083

The job creation estimates were based on a high level aggregation of estimates from

government departments, academia and industry representative bodies. The jobs

announced in 2009 are based on an analysis of newspaper articles in major Irish

publications.

What is a Green Job?

In the 2008 UNEP/ILO/ITUC Preliminary Report Green Jobs: Towards Sustainable

Work in a Low Carbon World, Green Jobs are defined as positions in agriculture,

manufacturing, Research & Development, administrative, and service activities aimed

at alleviating the myriad of environmental threats faced by humanity. Specifically,

but not exclusively, this includes jobs that help to protect and restore ecosystems and

biodiversity, reduce energy consumption, decarbonise the economy, and minimize or

altogether avoid the generation of all forms of waste and pollution.

United Nations Environment Programme

Sources and Methodology

The media databaseLexis Nexis was searched for Irish articles published in 2009

containing the strings new jobs, green and jobs, insulation and jobs, eco

and jobs, BER and jobs, renewable and jobs.Lexis Nexis covers all

1 Based on a three month analysis of job announcements made in Irish newspapers 19/2/09 to 21/5/09

available on the Lexis Nexus news database.2 Ibid. Green jobs were defined as those in the renewable energy, smart grid, recycling, energy

efficiency, BER and green R&D.3 Forfas 2008Environmental Goods and Services Sector on the Island of Ireland

http://www.forfas.ie/publication/search.jsp?ft=/publications/2008/Title,1930,en.php
http://www.forfas.ie/publication/search.jsp?ft=/publications/2008/Title,1930,en.phphttp://www.forfas.ie/publication/search.jsp?ft=/publications/2008/Title,1930,en.php


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national and regional newspapers in the Island of Ireland (see appendix A). It does not

include local newspapers e.g.Northside People .

The new jobs string was chosen to capture articles that announced the creation of

jobs rather than layoffs. Nevertheless some jobs announcements that omitted the word

new anywhere in their text would be excluded.

Green jobs were defined as jobs created in green businesses including jobs that help to

protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce energy consumption,

decarbonise the economy, and minimize or altogether avoid the generation of all

forms of waste and pollution. Example sectors would be renewable energy generation,

smart transmission and distribution, efficient energy use, electric cars, bio-fuels,

recycling, organic farming, energy efficient construction, eco-tourism and jobs in the

manufacture of goods, servicing and support of these sectors.

There was a large variation in time horizon for the job announcements. In many cases

the timelines for job creation were not mentioned in the article. Other timelines rangesfrom one year up to 11 years. With the exception of the clearly flagged IFA and Wind

Energy Inc announcements, speculative announcements were not included in the

analysis. Announcements included needed to be backed up by real financial

commitments from either the government or private industry.

Jobs announced in northern newspapers were included where the jobs were located in

the republic. Northern jobs announced by any newspaper were excluded except where

explicit numbers were not broken out e.g. 100 new jobs in Belfast and Dublin

where all jobs were included. The rationale for not including northern jobs is that they

are much less influenced by Irish government policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Are you double counting?

A: Care was taken to attribute job announcements to individual companies as much as

possible. Where a companys announcement was as a result of a government initiative

already announced, e.g. the Durkin Ecofix insulation jobs are part of the 4000 energy

efficiency jobs announced by Minister Ryan, the company jobs are not included in the

total. In other cases jobs are created in different sectors. For example, the C&F

engineering jobs are in micro wind generation manufacturing whereas the CharlesParson Initiatives estimate applies to large commercial wind turbine installation,

operation and maintenance.

Q: How many of the jobs have come on stream already

A: It is hard to know without substantial further research. In the energy efficiency

sector there has been rapid uptake of the government incentives which suggests jobs

are being created now. SEI reports 2,663 BER assessors are registered to meet a

requirement of an estimated 1000 full time jobs. This also suggests that energy

efficiency jobs are being created right now. Micro-renewable jobs are expected to

come on-stream as the 19c/kWh tariff is taken up by residential and small commercial

generators. In the large commercial wind sector, more details will be available in the


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IWEAs report Study into the investment and employment potential of the Irish Wind

Industryto be published on 15/6/09.

2. Types of green jobs

Cutting Energy Waste

DCENR have estimated the amount of green collar jobs that would likely be stimulated

through the Governments provision of approximately 180M for energy efficiency in 2009.

This breaks down to approximately 3500 jobs for the DCENR/DoEHLG aspects of the work,

and 2500 for the DEd Programmes, and includes an assumption for indirect jobs. It should be

noted that the DEd programme is likely to occur over a short period (summer holiday) thus

the annual figure we use is an average for a programme with a seasonal focus. This equates to

about 4500 direct and 1500 indirect jobs. Estimates were based on information and

methodologies from UNEP 2008 Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable Low-carbon World, and in President Obamas Economic Stimulus Package (known in the House

as The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).

Electric transport

ESB press release 16/4/09 http://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jsp

Smart Grid

ESB press release 16/4/09 http://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jspand

Eirgrid progress update for the East-West Interconnector 29th March 2009

http://www.interconnector.ie/projects/east-westinterconnector/projectactivity/

Micro-Generation

Figures are based on the IFA estimates reported in The Irish Times 21/1/09

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0121/1232474671107.html.

These figures seem conservative given that Germanys micro-generation initiatives

have created approximately 250000 jobs and Germany uses approximately 20 times

the annual electricity used by Ireland.

R&D and alternative renewable

ESB press release 16/4/09 http://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jspand

reported in stories in the Irish Press in 2009 available on the Lexis Nexus database.

Ocean Energy

The 1900 jobs estimate is from the Marine Institute/DCENR report from 2005 Ocean

Energy in Irelandhttp://www.dcenr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/3800D405-0B43-401C-

99F3-6AE5AD28BA54/0/OceanEnergyStrategyVer44Fnl.pdf. The 20000 figure is

from John McCarthy of Ocean Energy Ltd as reported in the 6/4/09Irish Examinerhttp://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2009/04/06/story88567.asp.
http://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jsphttp://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jsphttp://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jsphttp://www.interconnector.ie/projects/east-westinterconnector/projectactivity/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0121/1232474671107.htmlhttp://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jsphttp://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jsphttp://www.dcenr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/3800D405-0B43-401C-99F3-6AE5AD28BA54/0/OceanEnergyStrategyVer44Fnl.pdfhttp://www.dcenr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/3800D405-0B43-401C-99F3-6AE5AD28BA54/0/OceanEnergyStrategyVer44Fnl.pdfhttp://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2009/04/06/story88567.asphttp://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jsphttp://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jsphttp://www.interconnector.ie/projects/east-westinterconnector/projectactivity/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0121/1232474671107.htmlhttp://esb.ie/main/news_events/press_release352.jsphttp://www.dcenr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/3800D405-0B43-401C-99F3-6AE5AD28BA54/0/OceanEnergyStrategyVer44Fnl.pdfhttp://www.dcenr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/3800D405-0B43-401C-99F3-6AE5AD28BA54/0/OceanEnergyStrategyVer44Fnl.pdfhttp://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2009/04/06/story88567.asp


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Aggressive Renewable Generation

This figure is a preliminary estimate from the Irish Wind Energy Association to be

confirmed in theirStudy into the investment and employment potential of the Irish Wind

Industryreport to be published on 15/5/09. This figure represents the transfer of jobs

from the non-green economy to the green economy supporting those who might

otherwise lose their jobs.

Bio-fuels

The IFA are quoted in The Munster Express on 20/2/09 as saying that 500 jobs could

be created if 25% of the public sector changed to biomass powered heating

http://www.munster-express.ie/business/ifa-5000-jobs-could-be-created-through-

biomass-heating-systems/. The 900 jobs came from the Western DevelopmentCommission 2008 End of year statementhttp://www.wdc.ie/documents/22Dec-WDCendofyearstatement200819_000.pdf

Water Infrastructure

This is a Green party estimate based on the 2009 expenditure of the 5.8B worth of

water infrastructure upgrades announced by Minister John Gormley on 17/09/07

http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterServices/WaterServicesInvestme

ntProgramme/News/MainBody,15345,en.htm

Waste Management

From Green Party 2009 Green Economy 09

Details

Jobs Conservative Source

Cutting Energy Waste 6000 6000 DCENR

Electric transport 600 600 ESBEnergy Regulation and

Governance

Smart Grid 1600 1600 ESB, EirgridMicro-Generation 8000 370 IFAR&D and alternativerenewable 451 451 ESB, Pauwels Trafo, Surface Power

Ocean Energy 20000 1900 John McCarthy Ocean Energy Limited

Aggressive Renewable

Generation 9000 7000

Preliminary estimates from the IWEAStudy into the investment andemployment potential of the IrishWind Industryto be published on15/6/09

Bio-fuels 5000 900IFA & Western DevelopmentCommission

Water Infrastructure 4000 4000 Department for the Environment

Waste Management 200 200 Department for the EnvironmentNational Broadband scheme 170 170 DCENR
http://www.munster-express.ie/business/ifa-5000-jobs-could-be-created-through-biomass-heating-systems/http://www.munster-express.ie/business/ifa-5000-jobs-could-be-created-through-biomass-heating-systems/http://www.wdc.ie/documents/22Dec-WDCendofyearstatement200819_000.pdfhttp://www.wdc.ie/documents/22Dec-WDCendofyearstatement200819_000.pdfhttp://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterServices/WaterServicesInvestmentProgramme/News/MainBody,15345,en.htmhttp://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterServices/WaterServicesInvestmentProgramme/News/MainBody,15345,en.htmhttp://www.munster-express.ie/business/ifa-5000-jobs-could-be-created-through-biomass-heating-systems/http://www.munster-express.ie/business/ifa-5000-jobs-could-be-created-through-biomass-heating-systems/http://www.wdc.ie/documents/22Dec-WDCendofyearstatement200819_000.pdfhttp://www.wdc.ie/documents/22Dec-WDCendofyearstatement200819_000.pdfhttp://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterServices/WaterServicesInvestmentProgramme/News/MainBody,15345,en.htmhttp://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterServices/WaterServicesInvestmentProgramme/News/MainBody,15345,en.htm


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Total 55021 23191

6. Projections to 2020

How many jobs; 23000 or 55000?The 23000 figure is a conservative figure based on a continuation of current

government policy. But, according to industry groups, 55000 jobs could be created

should the government take further actions; namely:

Become European leader in Ocean Energy. Yield 20000 jobs (John McCarthy

Ocean Energy Inc 6 April 2009)

Incentivise micro-generation in rural areas. Yield 8000 jobs (IFA in Irish

Times 21 Jan 2009)

Bio-fuels could create 900 to 5000 rural jobs with Government support (IFA

and Western Development Commission)

Estimate Improvement

A detailed report Study into the investment and employment potential of the Irish

Wind Industryby IWEA is due to be published on the 15th of June 2009.


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Appendix A

Publications Included in the jobs search

Irish Publications

The Argus

Belfast News Letter

Belfast Telegraph

Bray People

BreakingNews.ie

Business & Finance Magazine

Business World (Digest)

Carlow People

Corkman

Drogheda Independent

Enniscorthy EchoEnniscorthy Guardian

Evening Herald (Ireland)

Fingal Independent

Gorey Echo

Gorey Guardian

Irish Examiner

Irish Independent

Irish News

The Irish Post

The Irish Times

KerrymanNew Ross Echo

New Ross Standard

PA Newswire: Ireland

Sunday Business Post

Sunday Independent (Ireland)

Sunday Life

Sunday Tribune

TCM - Carlow Nationalist

TCM - Down Democrat

TCM - Kildare Nationalist

TCM - Laois NationalistTCM - Newry Democrat

TCM - Roscommon Herald

TCM - The Kingdom

TCM - The Sligo Weekender

TCM - Waterford News & Star

TCM - Western People

TCM - Wexford Echo

Wexford People

Wicklow People

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