Fact Of The Day #78: Green Energy Not Yet A Big Job Generator (INFOGRAPHIC)

Green Energy Jobs Still Dwarfed By Dirty Fuel Industry
MUENCHEBERG, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 04: Workers install solar panels containing photovoltaic cells at the new Solarpark Eggersdorf solar park on September 4, 2012 near Muencheberg, Germany. The park, which is being built by German solar energy operator juwi Solar GmbH, will contain 85,000 solar modules and is one of many similar projects in eastern Germany. Germany is investing heavily in renewable energy projects, especially solar, wind and biogas ventures, as the country is in the ongoing process of closing down its nuclear energy plants. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
MUENCHEBERG, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 04: Workers install solar panels containing photovoltaic cells at the new Solarpark Eggersdorf solar park on September 4, 2012 near Muencheberg, Germany. The park, which is being built by German solar energy operator juwi Solar GmbH, will contain 85,000 solar modules and is one of many similar projects in eastern Germany. Germany is investing heavily in renewable energy projects, especially solar, wind and biogas ventures, as the country is in the ongoing process of closing down its nuclear energy plants. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

With gas prices spiking, energy policy is a big election-year talking point. It might surprise you that renewable energy alternatives generate interest and enthusiasm, but comparatively few jobs. From 2003 to 2010, the rate of annual job growth in renewable energy fields was 3.1 percent. Clean energy ventures - hydro power, wind, solar, geothermal, biofuels, and more - employed 138,364 people in 2010, compared to 1.3 million working in the oil, natural gas, and coal industries.

Different categories within the green energy sector showed different job growth rates, of course. One healthy one was solar thermal, with 18.4 percent annual job growth. Click on today's infographic to see it full size, check out job growth in several more categories - and learn which renewable energy category actually saw job loss.

ftfingreenjobs

Face the Facts USA is a project of The George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs. Would you like the "Fact of the Day" beamed straight to your email inbox? Sign up here. For more fun stuff, follow them on Twitter @FaceFactsUSA, or like them on Facebook.

Before You Go

#20. Azerbaijan

Top 20 Oil Producing Countries

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot