Renewable Energy Careers:
Where Are the Jobs? Where Are the
Degrees?
Susan Smith Nash,
Ph.D.
One of the most
exciting areas for new jobs is in the energy sector, specifically in renewable
energy. However, what are the jobs and
where can one obtain training? Renewable
energy sector jobs include design, engineering, installation, auditing, and programming
for green power, which includes solar, wind, biomass (cellulosic ethanol),
hydropower, and geothermal energy.
Where are the jobs?
Energy auditing: For
the smart grid to really work, it's necessary to identify the true patterns of
energy consumption, and to be able to make recommendations for more energy
efficient substitutes. This involves
learning how to audit to determine costs, ways to increase efficiency, and to
test new design.
Solar design:
Graduates should demonstrate an understanding of photovoltaic
principles, the current manufacturing facilities, and the places where
photovoltaic energy can be implemented.
Energy modeling: Being able to model energy from different
sources enables the individual to be able to work on hybrid solutions -- the
energy "farm" -- that may have three or four sources of energy on a
single expanse of land. Education in
this area allows one to integrate geothermal, wind, solar, biomass, and fossil
fuels.
Wind farm design and operation: Wind farms can be small or large, and they
can be locations that range from remote rural to windfarms on the edge of a
town, where the wind turbines are owned by the local municipality.
Wind turbine installations - residential, small
farm-light commercial, large commercial: The
jobs are literally all over the globe, and they range from massive wind turbine
installations to small windmills used for residential or light industrial
purposes (taking the load off diesel generators, for example).
Photovoltaic manufacturing: Technology is advancing rapidly in the area
of the manufacture of photovoltaic cells used in solar panels.
Colleges and Universities offering Renewable Energy Programs
- Crowder College
– Neosho, Missouri www.crowder.edu/MARET
Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Technology (MARET) (associates
degrees in solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass technologies)
- Lane
Community College - Eugene, Oregon http://www.lanecc.edu/
Lane has three two-year degree programs with a
sustainability focus:
·
Energy Management
·
Renewable Energy Technology
·
Water Conservation
- San Juan
College, Farmington, New Mexico
Renewable Energy Program http://www.sanjuancollege.edu/documents/MathSci/RENG/content/REeFlyergfxlres.pdf
- Bronx Community
College, Bronx, New York
The Center for Sustainable Energy http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/ http://www.csebcc.org/
- Humboldt State
University, Arcata, California
B.S. and M.S. programs in Environmental Resources Engineering http://www.humboldt.edu/
- Appalachian
State University, Boone, North Carolina
Undergraduate Program in Appropriate Technology http://www.tec.appstate.edu/
- Illinois State
University, Department of Technology
Renewable Energy Program http://www.tec.ilstu.edu/renewable_energy/
- Arizona State
University, School of Sustainability http://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/
- Slippery Rock
University, Pennsylvania
M.S. degree in Sustainable Systems http://www.sru.edu/pages/6781.asp
- University of
Wisconsin - Madison
Solar Energy Laboratory (SEL) http://sel.me.wisc.edu/
- Oregon Institute
of Technology
Renewable Energy Center http://www.oit.edu/
- Washington State
University
Renewable Energy Program http://www.energy.wsu.edu/projects/renewables/bioenergy.cfm
- Farmingdale
College, Farmingdale, NY
Solar Energy Center http://www.farmingdale.edu/
- State University of New
York-Canton: 4-year degree program
in alternative and renewable energy.
http://www.canton.edu/csoet/alt_energy/