14 DAY TRIAL // The market of renewables gains in popularity every year, due to its association with a high level of safety and a minimal impact upon the environment. However, even if experts forecast a significant expansion by 2050, lack of skilled workers might slow down the development of alternative sources of energy.
According to a report issued in 2009, each MW of wind power creates 15.1 jobs, while maintenance operations generate another 0.4 long-term jobs. In 2007, the industry of green sources of power employed 108,000 people only in Europe, reports Clean Techies.
All in all, after adding the suppliers and the indirect jobs generated by the continue growth of this domain, the report comes up with approximately 150,000 jobs for that point in time.
Nowadays, as we witness a beneficial expansion of safer, greener technologies, experts warn us that one of the most powerful threats is not the small number of employed people. It is actually the lack of skilled workers, which endangers the future position of wind power plants, in particular.
While talking about the numbers indicated for 2009, scientists say that the industry would be able to employ twice as many people by 2020, if the current path is preserved. By that time, major companies on the market expect to add 180GW of green wind power to the entire grid.
In order to work in a wind power plant, staff must be properly trained. Lack of health and safety officials is one of the most pressing issues at this point in time.
Offshore wind farms are a relatively new finding, therefore major players on the market didn't invest a great deal in the health and safety training for the personnel so far, but things are about to change.
Limited experience in this field appears to be the main challenge which threatens the entire system.
Officials can't establish safety standards and regulations unless they know exactly what they're dealing with. Knowledge and proper training represent the key to success in the industry of renewables.
Major companies have the know-how and they must share their information with their staff, so that they will be able to forecast and avoid disruptive incidents.
As wind and solar power have the potential to replace the expensive traditional fuel by 2050, skilled workers must support the development of renewables.
The expansion of alternative sources of energy triggers the creation of thousands of jobs every year, all across the globe, but no economy can be boosted by increased revenue until as companies don't figure out how to deal with the lack of health and safety training.