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Germany’s booming green collar jobs

the renewable-energy industry has been one of the biggest sources of new jobs in Germany in the past decade and has been boosting exports…..About 340,000 workers in Germany are employed in the making and installation of wind turbines, solar panels and other clean- energy equipment. That workforce has doubled since 2004,

Merkel’s Nuclear Embrace Earns Derision as German Clean-Power Costs Climb – Bloomberg ,  By Jeremy van Loon – Jan 5, 2011 “…………..Germany a green-power success story. It gets more than 17 percent of its electricity from wind turbines, solar arrays and other renewable resources, up from about 6 percent a decade ago, according to the German Renewable Energy Federation.

The country has adopted new clean technologies more quickly than any nation except Denmark, its smaller neighbor to the north; it has more wind turbines installed than any country other than the U.S. and China and the most solar power generation in the world.

What’s more, the renewable-energy industry has been one of the biggest sources of new jobs in Germany in the past decade and has been boosting exports.

Nuclear Extension Now, Chancellor Angela Merkel is expressing concern that the cost might hurt the competitiveness of German industry. To hold power prices in check, Merkel plans to keep existing nuclear plants in the mix for longer, abandoning a deadline set by the previous government to retire all of the country’s reactors by 2022. Environmentalists, political opponents and even some people within her own party say Merkel is backpedaling from Germany’s green-power goals.

“Her policy is all about delaying an important transition to renewable energy that Germany’s future prosperity will depend on,” says Matthias Adolf, a lecturer on international relations and energy at Berlin’s Free University………

Juergen Trittin, a leader of the Green Party, which was a partner in the government when the push for renewables began in earnest a decade ago, says German job growth depends on the continued expansion of wind and solar.Green Power Jobs

“We should be getting out of nuclear power faster and relying more on renewable energy, which has led us to an export surplus,” he said in a speech to the country’s parliament in October.

About 340,000 workers in Germany are employed in the making and installation of wind turbines, solar panels and other clean- energy equipment. That workforce has doubled since 2004, according to the environment ministry. The robust domestic market for wind and solar has helped German companies such as Siemens develop clean technologies that sell around the world.

Merkel’s Nuclear Embrace Earns Derision as German Clean-Power Costs Climb – Bloomberg

January 6, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Germany, renewable