Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5CJpxHQwHw

Renewable energy is energy that doesn’t pollute. It comes from sources that never run out, like the sun, the wind, and the ocean’s waves.

Renewable energy is important because, right now, producing energy using traditional power plants is the biggest cause of pollution in the country and in the world. In the U.S., most of our power plants run on coal, natural gas, oil or diesel fuel. These are called “fossil fuels” and burning them causes global warming. Fossil-fuel power plants also cause other type of pollution that dirties our air and can cause health problems like asthma, lung cancer and heart disease. Almost all of our cars, trucks, buses, trains and ships use liquid fuels that come from oil, which has the same pollution problems.

Solar and wind power are the two best-known type of renewable energy. But other technologies, other ways of producing renewable energy, are starting to take off, too. The numbers of jobs in these fields are growing here in New York City and around the country. In fact, the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics expects that over the next 20 or so years, more than a million new jobs in these fields will be created across the U.S. In the New York area, the number of jobs in solar energy and wind energy are predicted to grow, too. So are jobs in energy efficiency [LG1] , a big field that’s about helping do more with less energy.

As in all lines of work, some jobs can be entry level. Companies that use water from dams or rivers to produce electricity need office clerks and janitors, just like other companies do. For others jobs, special training and/or college or advanced educational degrees might be needed.

Below, you can find out more about different kinds of renewable energy and the types of jobs available in those industries. Some of the links that are included will also give you information about what type of education and training can help you move ahead in these fields.

Wind Energy

Wind power uses the power of the wind to make electricity. Some small-sized wind energy machines can be used to power homes, farms and small businesses. But most wind power is generated at wind farms. Wind farms are located in places where the wind blows strong. Large wind-turbines, rotating machines that create electricity, generate power from wind.

These days, almost all wind farms in the U.S. are located on land. But there’s a push to build offshore wind farms that can use the ocean’s strong breezes and produce electricity close to the cities where it’s needed most. The waters off Long Island might become home to an offshore wind farm soon. If that wind farm gets built, it will create many construction jobs, along with jobs for engineers, sailors, boat captains and others.

In fact, for people interested in working in wind power, there are many kinds of jobs. (Check out this report that describes wind-power jobs, from the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.) There are jobs for clerical workers, administrative assistants, technicians,assembly workers, trade workers, scientists, engineers, heavy equipment operators, electricians, metal workers, lawyers, real estate professionals, sales staff, truck drivers, logistics professionals, managers and inspectors.

If you are looking for a job in wind power, one place to turn is this helpful website from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority. It can fill you in about job training; financial aid and other programs that can help you find work in this growing field.

Another helpful webpage for people interested in wind power is the job board of the American Wind Energy Association. So is the Wind Energy Jobs page of the Green Job Bank. Other job search websites, like Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com are also good places to look.

For more information about the kinds of training and education you might need to work in wind power, check out the Renewable Energy Generation page of the Green Careers center at CareerOneStop.org. The federal government put CareerOneStop.org together to help people find work. CareerOneStop.org can also help you learn about salaries and benefits, along with other useful information.

Solar Energy

Solar energy uses the power of the sun to create electricity, as well as heating and cooling. Here in New York, the solar industry is growing fast. That’s thanks to big drops in the cost of solar panels and to government policies that are making solar power more affordable than ever.

If you’ve heard about solar power at all, you’ve probably heard of solar photovoltaics (“photo” means light and “voltaics” relates to electricity). Photovoltaics are the shiny solar panels you might have seen on a growing number of homes and businesses. But there are other kinds of solar power, too. Solar thermal, sometimes called solar heating and cooling, uses panels and other equipment to collect heat from the sun. That heat can be used to heat hot water or provide heat for a home or building. Because heat can be used to activate some air conditioning systems, the heat collected by solar thermal panels can also be used to keep buildings cool.

Concentrated solar power (CSP) is another kind of solar power. It works in very sunny places, like the American Southwest, by focusing mirrors or lenses so that they concentrate a huge amount of sunlight onto a very small area. The heat this process creates is used to create steam. That steam spins a turbine, which generates electricity.

The national Solar Energy Industries Association’s Solar Jobs webpage is a great place to start looking for a job in solar power. SEIA also lists training programs, networking opportunities and other helpful information. The New York chapter of the SEIA also has job listings. Other useful webpages for people interested in solar power are the Solar Today job board of the American Solar Energy Society and the Solar Energy Jobs page of the Green Job Bank. General job search websites, like Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com, are also good places to look.

This helpful website from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority is another place to turn. It can fill you in about job training; financial aid and other programs that can help you find work in this growing field. New York State’s Green Careers NY is a useful website, too. It lists job boards, training programs, job fairs and other opportunities for people interested in green jobs.

The federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has put out a useful report about the types of jobs available in the solar power field. And for more information about the kinds of training and education you might need to work in solar power, check out the Renewable Energy Generation page of the Green Careers center at CareerOneStop.org. The federal government put CareerOneStop.org together to help people find work. CareerOneStop.org can also help you learn about salaries and benefits, along with other helpful information.

Biofuels

Right now, almost all of our cars, trucks, buses, trains and ships run on liquid fuels made from oil. But there is an alternative—biofuels. They are fuels made from plants such as switch-grass and algae. New York City isn’t a center of biofuels production or research but this small industry is beginning to grow here and might become larger as researchers learn more about how to produce biofuels at a cost equal to or less expensive than oil-based fuels.

One biofuels company active in the New York City area is Tri-State Biodiesel. You can find its job listings here. The Green Job Bank is also a good place to look for a job in the biofuels industry. So are biofuels job boards like the one run by Biofuels Digest and one by the Algae Biomass Organization. General job search websites, like Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com, are also good places to look for jobs in this field.

The federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has put out a useful report about jobs in the biofuels field.

For more information about the kinds of training and education you might need to work in biofuels, check out the Renewable Energy Generation page of the Green Careers center at CareerOneStop.org. The federal government put CareerOneStop.org together to help people find work. CareerOneStop.org can also help you learn about salaries and benefits, along with other helpful information.

Ground-Source Heat Pumps

Sometimes called “geothermal heat pumps,” ground-source heat pumps use the relatively stable temperatures just below the earth’s surface to bring warm air into buildings in winter and cool them in summer. Over their lifetimes, ground-source heat pumps are some of the least expensive ways to heat and cool buildings, including homes. In fact, these systems can save owners more than half on their heating and cooling bills.

This way of heating and cooling buildings is not nearly as well known as solar power or wind power. But the field is growing quickly and is creating jobs for everyone from construction workers and drillers to engineers and designers.

So far, there’s no New York association of businesses that work in this field. But you can find these businesses through the website of the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association.

This helpful website from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority is another good place to turn. It can fill you in about job training; financial aid and other programs that can help you find work in the ground-source heat pump field. New York State’s Green Careers NY is a useful website, too. It lists job boards, training programs, job fairs and other opportunities for people interested in green jobs.

The Green Job Bank is also a good place to look. So are other job search websites, like Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com.

For more information about the kinds of training and education you might need to work in the ground-source heat pump field, check out the Green Careers center at CareerOneStop.org and search under “ground source heat pump.” The federal government put CareerOneStop.org together to help people find work. CareerOneStop.org can also help you learn about salaries and benefits, along with other helpful information.

Geothermal Power

Heat stored deep underneath the earth’s surface can be used to run power plants that create electricity. They work by pulling up hot water or steam from beneath the earth and using that steam to spin a turbine. The American West has the most potential for geothermal power; New York doesn’t have much at all.

The Green Job Bank is a good place to look for jobs in this field. (They will be far outside the New York City area.) So are other job search websites, like Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com.

The federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has put together this helpful report on jobs in geothermal energy. For more information about the kinds of training and education you might need to work in the geothermal field, check out the Renewable Energy Generation page of the Green Careers center at CareerOneStop.org. The federal government put CareerOneStop.org together to help people who are looking for jobs find work. CareerOneStop.org can also help you learn about salaries and benefits, along with other helpful information.

Hydroelectric Power

Moving water, especially river water, can turn turbines that create electricity, just as the wind and steam can. In fact, almost 20 percent of New York State’s electricity comes from hydroelectric plants, including a very large hydroelectric plant near Niagara Falls.

There is some disagreement about whether hydroelectric power is friendly to the environment. Hydroelectric power doesn’t create the kind of pollution that fossil-fuel power plants do. But new dams can hurt the environmentally important areas where wildlife, fish and other water creatures live.

The National Hydropower Association is in the process of setting up an online job board. Check out their website here.

The Green Job Bank is also a good place to look for jobs in this field. So are other job search websites, like Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com.

For more information about the kinds of training and education you might need to work in the hydroelectric field, check out the Renewable Energy Generation page of the Green Careers center at CareerOneStop.org. The federal government put CareerOneStop.org together to help people find work. CareerOneStop.org can also help you learn about salaries and benefits, along with other helpful information.

Wave and Tidal Energy

Have you ever stood at the beach and gotten knocked over by a wave? If you have, you know that the ocean packs a lot of power. Scientists and engineers are looking for and finding new ways to use that power to create electricity. Some are designing and building underwater turbines. There are some underwater turbines generating electricity in the East River right now. Others are figuring out whether buoys that bob with waves can produce electricity.

The wave and tidal energy industry is small but it’s growing fast; it has a lot of potential to generate clean, pollution-free electricity close to the areas where that energy is needed most.

Right now, there aren’t many jobs in this field in the New York City area or the U.S. in general. But The Green Job Bank is a good place to start looking for them, as are general job listing websites like Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com.

For more information about the kinds of training and education you might need to work in the wave/tidal energy field, check out the Green Careers center at CareerOneStop.org and search under “wave energy” or “tidal energy.” The federal government put CareerOneStop.org together to help people who are looking for jobs find work. CareerOneStop.org can also help you learn about salaries and benefits, along with other helpful information.

Renewable Energy Job Boards and Resources

Algae Biomass Organization Job Board

American Council on Renewable Energy’s Jobs Resources Page

American Wind Energy Association Job Board

Biofuels Digest Job Board

International Ground Source Heat Pump Association Business Directory

National Hydropower Association

New York Solar Energy Industries Association Job Board