Green Career Central Blog

Green Career Trends: Some Green Industries Continue to Grow, Colleges Starting to Add Sustainability, Grid Including Electric Cars Being Studied

The green economy, much like the larger economy, has slowed down, but some green industries are continuing at a slow, but steady pace. The green building materials sector is one of those sectors.  Serious Materials has created green building products, like ecorock (green sheet rock).  Sage Electrochromics has received funding for energy efficient glass that lightens and darkens with the flip of a switch.   CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Selenide) aka thin film solar has seen some technological improvements and cost reductions that are making it competitive.  Global Solar, Nanosolar, Solyndra and Heliovot are CIGS companies poised for growth.  Smart grid companies, including corporate giant GE and smaller start up companies with infusions of venture capital, hope to capitalize on the need for grid energy efficiency.

The demand for qualified green employees by companies continues to expand.  More colleges and universities are adding sustainability to their curriculum to meet the demand. Are you wondering which institutions of higher learning have the best sustainability programs?   The Princeton Review has given it's Green Rating Honor Roll to 11 top rated universities and colleges.  Beyond Grey Pinstripes from the Aspen Institute has its own ranking. 

Could an electric grid mostly powered by intermittent wind power be used by 40,000 people who want to recharge their electric cars overnight, work?  IBM and Denmark want to find out.  Together they have created the EDISON Project to research a smart grid capable of handling large loads. Lighter weight cars would use less power.  Toyota has created a concept car that replaces heavyweight steel with a lightweight kelp-based bioplastic.  Instead of electricity, cars could be powered by bio-fuels.  Bionavitas, an algae bio fuels company, thinks it has found a way to get more light deeper into bioreactors thereby reducing self-shading and increasing the amount of algae produced and reducing the cost.

Green Career Tip - Green Job Search Tactics for Recessionary Times

If you listen to the news much you know the outlook on the economy and the employment situation isn’t the greatest. Week after week the numbers seem to look worse and worse. More bailouts, more crises, and more layoffs.

Rather than solely studying the traditional economic news, turn your attention to information about the green economy. Although it’s not all good news, there is more cause for hope and optimism on the green side of the fence.

Do you want to be on the front edge of the recovery OR do you want to wait until you are sure it’s happening to put yourself into position to jump when opportunities strike?

Read this week's tip to learn how motivation pays off.

See Amazing Photos of Energy Inefficiency and Energy Efficiency

Recent polls have indicated that Global Warming is moving down the priority list among Americans as jobs, the economy and terrorism now top the list.  There may be hundreds of speculative reasons to explain this drop.  But, maybe if we could just see more of the CO2 and other greenhouse gases and see where it is going and see how it is collecting in the atmosphere, we might be more willing to make changes to our daily habits to reduce emissions.  We might also be more willing to put Climate Change closer to the top of our priority list. 

National Geographic may not be able to photograph CO2 in the same way they can photograph a beautiful landscape, but they can photograph our daily life and show how we are contributing to and solving the problem of Global Warming simultaneously.  In this photographic slide show, some of the photographs taken with a heat sensing device show how remarkably inefficient our homes, cars and light bulbs are.  By making some modifications to daily life, like riding the Metro, drying clothes in the wind, and getting rid of old refrigerators we can reduce those unseen emissions and leave a healthy planet to future generations. 

Read the full Energy Conservation Essay for an explanation of the project.

Green Career Trends: Clean Tech Saving Silicon Valley Jobs, Bio-fuels Getting BP Attention, Product Stewardship Growing Trend

While the employment news for the nation continues to be rocky and uncertain, the Silicon Valley area in California seems to weathering the downturn a little better with the help of green clean tech.  According to a report by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and Joint Venture, there has been a loss of jobs since November and a drop in the commercial property markets.  However in 2008, venture capital investments in clean-tech rose 94 percent over the previous year.  Silicon Valley appears to be inventing itself again, from what was once a hardware manufacturing area, into a software creation area and now into a clean tech central.

Clean tech may be on the rise in the green economy and so are biofuels, especially when the fossil fuel multi-national corporations and the Obama stimulus plan get interested.  BP has announced a new refinery to make biofuels from non-food-source plants.  In a recent speech at Stanford, Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon said with further research, algae could play a role in transportation fuel supplies and reducing greenhouse gases. Tillerson seems to have adopted some very un-fossil-fuel like green ideas.  He is also getting some pressure from activist Exxon shareholders. 

Product stewardship is a growing concept where product producers, sellers, and users all share responsibility for reducing the environmental impact. In an effort to reduce the amount of non bio-degradable material going to landfills, municipalities are banning substances such as polystyrene take-out boxes and plastic bags.  Some large companies are not waiting for policy makers, they are taking the initiative and reducing packaging and cutting costs. HP was the winner of the Wal-Mart design challenge to reduce the environmental impact of their product packaging.

Green Career Tip - Show Us the Money: How Green Is the Stimulus Package?

How have you been feeling about the green economy lately?

Hopeful? Apprehensive?
Excited? Skeptical?
Curious? Wary?
Motivated? Disillusioned?

There are more and more signs from the Obama Administration that we are moving into a new era where climate change, green jobs, and renewable resources are front and center in discussions, negotiations, and policy.

Read this week's tip for more information.

A Brief Report From the Good Jobs Green Jobs Conference About Emerging Green Industries

I have returned from the second annual Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference convened in Washington D.C. by the Blue Green Alliance. This admittedly unexpected partnership between the Sierra Club and the Steelworkers Union has brought environmental groups, other unions, social justice groups, businesses, and industries together to create good green jobs for their constituents.

Given that the conference was taking place while the stimulus package was moving through the Senate, speakers and break out group presenters couldn't make many definitive statements about the future of green careers. Nevertheless, I picked up on several trends that weren't on the radar at last year's conference.

1) Smart Grid - Although the term Smart Grid has been bandied about more and more over the last few months, most of us don't have a full grasp of the electric grid as it is today let alone what it can become! The current electricity grid is a network of energy generation sources, distribution centers and wires. The network that was mostly built to meet the needs of equipment from the 1950s and 1960s now faces shortcomings in terms of its capacity, reliability, security and power quality. When black outs and power interruptions occur the costs to the American economy are in excess of $100.0 billion per year. A diverse collection of companies has come together as the GridWise® Alliance to create a vision of a new grid that supports innovation, plan the infrastructure and develop technologies to capitalize on the enhanced grid.

The GridWise® Alliance recently released a report entitled The U.S. Smart Grid Revolution: KEMA's Perspectives for Job Creation that "estimates up to 280,000 new jobs can be created directly from the deployment of Smart Grid technologies." In addition the new technologies inspired by the Smart Grid are likely to create a substantial number of additional jobs that can't be imagined until we know more about the Smart Grid.

2) Green Medical Practice – In the medical world, a push for sustainable practices is building. The focus within hospitals includes green buildings, water and energy management, environmentally preferred purchasing, and waste management. At the moment, greening efforts are falling to employees in various roles. Practice Greenhealth is encouraging hospitals to hire sustainability managers to create a comprehensive plan that can be worked throughout the hospital. If you want to learn more about this sustainability specialty, visit Practice Greenhealth or attend the upcoming CleanMed2009 Conference.

3) Greenhouse Gas Management – As we address climate change we must rely on highly skilled and qualified professionals who are trained to measure, account for, audit, and manage GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions with high levels of competency and ethical integrity. People with these skills will be critical to the success of emissions trading markets and other GHG policies. If you would like to understand how carbon markets work or become a leading expert on greenhouse gas verification, explore the extensive list of courses  offered by the GHG Management Institute. You may also be interested in the conclusions offered by the 2009 Greenhouse Gas and Climate Change Workforce Needs Assessment Survey

4) Wind - In 2008, the United States wind industry experienced a number of firsts. In addition, the United States became the largest wind energy presence in the world for the first time and employed more people than the coal industry. Although the financial crisis is taking its toll on the wind industry in the short term, there is considerable hope that several factors will allow the industry to continue to grow. The short construction cycle means that turbines can start producing clean energy only six months after construction begins. If you want to learn more about what this industry needs to flourish, check out the wind industry's agenda for the future.  Be sure to click on the bottom of the page to enlarge the map of current wind manufacturing facilities.

5) Energy Efficiency - Depending on the details in the final stimulus plan, it is likely the energy efficiency/building retrofit industries will get a boost. Discussions about the stimulus package have touted energy efficiency/building retrofits as a way to create jobs, decrease reliance on foreign oil, and put more cost savings in the pockets of residents and businesses. If this trend takes off, related building supply manufacturers will experience an uptick in their businesses.

As with nearly all aspects of the green economy, these trends are in the early stages of development. If you are interested in pursing work in any of these areas, begin by immersing yourself in your field of interest. Keep track of industry developments, build your skill set, and be ready to take the leap when the industry begins to hire.

Green Job Fair-Washington D. C. Area, Feb. 27, 2009

The Virginia Sustainable Building Network and Green Careers Center  have combined to present the Washington Metro Green Job Fair on Friday Feb. 27, 2009.  The event will take place at the Westin Arlington Gateway, from 8am until 6pm. 

Employers from the energy and environmental industries will be there offering both "hands on" and policy jobs.

A First Look at the Green Elements of the Recently Passed Stimulus Bill

These are the stimulus expenditures that have a green emphasis:

• $4.5 billion to repair federal buildings and increase energy efficiency.  Jobs will be created and if green building materials are used, new companies and industries will grow.  The long term energy savings go to the government and taxpayers.

• $20 billion in tax incentives to spur the use of renewable energy over the next 10 years. Wind and solar may be the first industries to benefit, with others catching up.

• $11 billion for "smart-grid related activities, including work to modernize the electric grid." Look for green IT to get a boost along with smart grid start ups.

• $2 billion in "grant funding for the manufacturing of advanced batteries systems and components and vehicle batteries that are produced in the United States."  Improved batteries will increase the distance electric vehicles can travel before needing to be recharged.  This may give US auto makers a head start in a multi-national race to create a safe, reliable electric vehicle.

• Tax credits "for families that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles."  This tax credit could be as much as $7,500.  Plug-ins hybrids may be an interim step between hybrids and all electric vehicles.

• $16.4 for transit projects and high-speed rail.  Dependable public transportation will relieve congestion in urban areas.

• $6 billion "for local clean and drinking water infrastructure improvements."

Green Career Trends: Advantages and Disadvantages of Bio-fuels and Electricity as Transport Fuel, An All Electric Bus for Downtown Shuttles, A Drag Reducing Device for Semi-Truck Trailers

The alternative energy race to replace fossil fuels as the energy of choice for transportation appears to now be between two contenders, bio fuel and batteries.  Each has its advantages and disadvantages. 

• The advantages of battery technology are:  the technology has been improving and is available now, consumers can recharge their vehicles at home, early adopter type consumers with the means have already purchased electric vehicles. 
  
• Disadvantages are:  Current models have limited driving distance before needing a charge, the factories that produce batteries would have to scale up quickly to meet demand from electric automakers, the mineral needed to produce batteries has to be removed from the earth. 
  
• Advantages of bio fuel (excluding ethanol) are:  fuel-farming could boost employment in rural areas, fuel stations are already in place across the country with the time needed to re fuel vehicles remaining the same, in two or three years bio fuels could be produced for $1.50 a gallon. 
  
• Disadvantages:  limited number of crushers in processing plants and the cost of increasing the capacity to meet future demand, finding arable land that will grow fuel crops with limited amounts of water and not remove land that is growing food crops.

Proterra, a Golden, CO company that designs, develops and manufactures hybrid and battery-electric buses and parcel delivery vehicles has created an all electric passenger bus that can accommodate about 40 passengers.  The company sees the primary use as a downtown shuttle with an average speed of 15 mph.  At the end of the day, the bus can return to the yard and be recharged overnight.  While the purchase price may be higher than a fossil fuel bus, the price difference can be recovered in an estimated six years.

Not only can electric buses reduce the use of fossil fuel, a new device added to rear of tractor-trailers can improve mileage efficiency.  ATDynamics has created TrailerTail, a drag reduction device that can save over 5% in fuel costs for trucks traveling at highway speeds. 

Green Career Tip - Highlights from the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference

My husband and I just returned from a week in Washington, D.C. where we attended the second annual Good Jobs Green Jobs Conference.

As I was listening to the opening speakers, I was struck by the difference in tone from last year’s conference in Pittsburgh to this year’s conference.

Last year the speakers were hopeful, inspirational, motivational, and there were a few success stories shared that showed creating good, green jobs was possible. his year the tone of the conference was again hopeful, but with more realism thrown in.

Read the full article to learn more about the conference and the future of the green economy.