HOW IN DEMAND WILL RENEWABLE ENERGY JOBS BE IN THE NEAR FUTURE?
I'm really worried about the economy and looking for a quick certification so I can have some sort of qualification in case it totally goes under. I found a 14 credit hour RENEWABLEENERGY certification at a community college. Do you think this will do any good for finding JOBS?
WINDMILL FARMS ANSWERS:
In general, now is a great time to get into the field, as it is still relatively young and growing fast, so there's an overall lack of truly experienced workers in the field. But whether or not you will easily find a job really depends on what you want to do in the sector and what your background is. For positions that don't require any real technical knowledge about the field (i.e. Public affairs, legal, accounting, finance, construction), then jobs should be pretty easy to find, even with no formal training/certificate in renewable energy. There are some positions, such as engineers, scientists, environmentalists, or developers where you can probably find a position without any previous experience, but the certificate you mention would certainly help in getting yourself noticed as someone who is really motivated and desiring to be in the field. Then there are the most technical positions, such as plant operators or consultants where a formal degree would probably be most helpful in landing a position.
In short, the course you mention is a great idea to get started, but you should also do some research on the exact position you're interested in to see how much background employers expect you to have in the field. For some positions, a short course may be sufficient, in others, it may not be. But if you are motivated and persistent, do all you can to learn about the field and talk to people in the field, and eventually, you should be able to land a position.
Chris asks...
BASIC FEATURES OF ENERGY PRODUCTION FOR NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY?
Can you evaluate the costs and benefits from an environmental perspective: e.g, health concerns, economy.
WINDMILL FARMS ANSWERS:
Non renewable energy considers electricity & other fuels inclding vehicle fuels, originating from coal, tar sands, mineral oil, gas and uranium.
Costs are involved in geological exploration, in mine development (or oil / gas field production), and in delivery of the product to the consumer (which in many cases, will be the power station). From an environmental perspective, certain people are concerned that the burning of hydrocarbon fuels generate carbon dioxide but the extra planting of trees will absorb that CO2 (& volcanogenic CO2 emissions, which cannot be controlled, are far greater). Coal, tar sands & uranium mining can leave scars on the landscape but careful land reclamation can result in negligible low term effect.
Coal mining, uranium mining and the exploitation of oil, gas and tar sands results in the creation of many long term jobs which help the economy. The use of these fuels, produce much needed electricity, vehicle fuels such as petrol & diesel. Many sources of renewable energy only produce small amounts of power and then only when specific weather or climatic conditions are favourable.
Coal burning, producing particulate carbon, when mixed with semi permenent low cloud, can result in smog. This causes difficulties for asthma sufferers and can cause difficulties for people with bronchitus. However, with scrubbers having been fitted into modern day power stations, poisonous gases such as sulphur dioxide and particulate carbon are largely absorbed in the chimney stack.
Nuclear electricity generation (using uranium) has concerns in terms of the effect of the radioactivity on the local environment, their possible target for potential terrorist action and the long term consequences when things go wrong (as happened at Three Mile Island soaring energy prices, now affectionately called 'the second rent') to see the end game in real life.
Green energy is an expensive boondoggle of epic proportions.
Richard asks...
WHAT ARE THE JOBS IN DEMAND IN THE RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR? ARE THEY HIGHER OR LOWER QUALIFICATION JOBS?
Is it lower paid JOBS like plumbers etc. in demand, or is it researchers, analysts etc., people with degree's and higher qualifications?
WINDMILL FARMS ANSWERS:
Because people are becoming more aware of the planets energy sources, there is an increasing demand for most jobs in this sector. I would say that the highest demanded job in that sector would be researchers. Depending on what type of research it is, it may not necessarily be required to have a high qualification. Also, because there is a higher demad for jobs in this sector you will find that they are probably less fussy as to what qualification the person has (obviously will probably have to some some sort though).
