European Commission's study estimates that 2.8 million jobs will be created in meeting 20/20/20 target

In 2005, the renewable energy sector employed 1.4 million people with a gross value added of €58 billion. In the future significantly more people are expected to be employed in the renewable energy sector, especially in the Member States that joined the EU between 2004 and 200 and the net effects for the overall economy are expected to be positive. According to the study, the implementation of the 20/20/20 renewable energy policy (detailed in the Directive 2009/28/EC also published last week) will generate about 410,000 additional jobs and 0.24% additional GDP in the EU-27 by 2020. Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said: “This shows that benefits of renewables in terms of security of supply and fighting climate change can go hand in hand with economic benefits”.

However, the study also emphasises that stronger policies are needed to maximise economic benefits from renewable energy. More innovative technologies such as PV, offshore wind, solar thermal electricity and second-generation biofuels require more financial support in the short term, but are precisely the key to achieving the EU’s 2020 target, which in turn will help maintain the EU’s current competitive position in the global market and to increase employment and GDP in the mid term.

The findings of the EC study contrast with the hotly debated conclusions of a study prepared and published recently under the direction of Dr. Gabriel Calzada, an economics professor at Juan Carlos University in Madrid, entitled: “Study of the effects on employment of public aid to renewable energy sources”. This study examines the experience in Spain and suggests that every renewable job created by the Spanish government destroyed an average of 2.2 other jobs and that each "green" megawatt installed in Spain destroyed 5.39 jobs in non-energy sectors.

A number of authorities have criticised Gabriel Calzada’s work, including the Instituto Sindical de Trabajo, Ambiente y Salud (Spanish Union Institute of Work, Environment and Health supported by the Spanish trade union, Confederation CCOO) which has analysed the study in detail, reporting that: “the document has been prepared to attract media attention and does not describe the methodology underlying the analysis performed. It does not present any evidence that the growth of renewable energies destroys jobs, in contrast to many previous studies which all agree that renewable energies are net job creators”. Guillermo Arregui, Manuel Garí, Javier Gómez and Begoña María–Tomé from the Instituto Sindical de Trabajo, Ambiente y Salud add that: “one cannot ignore the facts: renewable energies are labour intensive”.

For additional information:

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/studies/renewables_en.htm