Green Career Central Blog

Green Career Trends: First Solar to Work on Desertech Industrial Initiative, HP Reducing Paper Useage, Solar Panels Getting Cheaper, More Efficient

Tempe, AZ based First Solar has announced it has joined Desertec Industrial Initiative as an associate partner.  This Initiative would use solar and wind power produced in the desert of North Africa to supply electricity to portions of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  The goal is to provide 15% of the coalition's power needs by 2050 at a cost of $555 billion.  First Solar has experience building solar plants in the deserts of the US and United Arab Emirates. 

If your interest is in greening the job you currently have by becoming an intrapreneur, you may want to look to high tech giant HP  for a model on how to reduce the amount of paper used in house and by your customers. (An intrapreneur is someone who sees an green project opportunity within a company and develops that project by volunteering their time. If you see an opportunity, track your results! You may be able to lobby the company to create a paid position to expand your project.)

One of the ways to get renewable solar energy more widely adopted is to make it less expensive and more efficient than current models.  Scientists at the Royal Melborne Institute of Technology have created just that.  A spin-off company, Technique Solar claims they can deliver solar power at the same price as grid-delivered fossil fuel energy.

Green Career Trends: Texas Sets Wind Power Record, IBM, Stanford Create New Process of Recycling Plastic, Aurica Wants CA NUMI Plant for Their Own Electric Cars

Wind power in the state of Texas has set a new record for delivering power to the grid.  On the morning of March 5 nearly 19% of the energy supplied to the state's largest grid came from wind turbines.  Part of the reason for this record happened in 2008.   A  $4.93 billion wind turbine transmission project to get the energy from the panhandle to the large population areas in the southern part of the state was approved by state regulators. 

IBM and Stanford University together have created a new way to recycle plastic.  This new way of breaking down plastic during the recycling process allows it to be recycled many more times than is currently possible.  A larger pilot study will be conducted in Saudi Arabia. 

Aurica, an unknown electric vehicle manufacturer, wants to move into the NUMI auto manufacturing plant in California. Toyota is leaving the plant at the end of this month.  Aurica wants to retrain the workforce to build electric cars.  Aurica has not released any details on how they would finance the transition.

Home Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program Announced, KB Homes to Build Energy Efficient Homes, Solar City Has $90 Million Fund to Expand

In a move to reduce unemployment among construction and manufacturing workers, President Obama has introduced the Home Star Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program, also know as the Cash for Caulkers. Home owners who take advantage of this program would be eligible for rebates, the amount of the rebate would depend upon which level of energy efficiency they choose.  The program also includes many oversights to assure quality compliance.  If you are interested in becoming a LEED Green Associate, here is a useful guide

KB Homes, one of the top five home builders in the nation, has announced that it intends to build its new homes in Northern California to Greenpoint Rated Standards.  This move will provide future homeowners with an energy efficient home that will cost less to heat and cool.  This decision by a home builder of this size to add these energy saving designs and materials could be a blueprint for other communities and other builders to follow suit.  Here is a link to 20 blog posts from Environmental Leader that contains information about how major corporations are building or retrofitting their buildings to make them more energy efficient.

Solar City, based in Foster City, CA, and US Bancorp announced a new $90 million fund to expand solar projects in AZ, CA, OR, TX and CO.  The fund will be used to fund Solar City's solar lease program and purchase power agreements. Click here to see the career openings at Solar City.

Green Career Trends: Bloom Energy Recognized, NY and CA Approve Net Metering, AZ Considers Solar Roll-Back, IBM and Johnson Controls Create Partnership

In case you missed it, Bloom Energy, a fuel cell maker based in the Silicon Valley city of Sunnyvale, CA, had their "Bloom Box" profiled by CBS 60 Minutes Sunday.  The spotlight has expanded the attention to other fuel cell makers.  Oorja Protonics, also based in Silicon Valley, has been producing fuel cells for forklifts, but is looking to produce them for alternative fuel vehicles including long haul trucks as well. By 2020 there are expected to be 2.8 million fuel cell powered cars and trucks on the road.

Roof top solar companies in New York and California have been given a boost by their state legislatures when they each passed net metering.  Net metering allows home owners with small solar and wind installations to receive credit for the power they generate. 

The state legislature in Arizona, on the other hand, is considering making a change to its definition of renewable energy to include nuclear power.  Because AZ has a nuclear power plant that already produces 25% of the state's power, other sources of renewable energy, such as solar, wind and geothermal, would no longer be needed to meet the renewable energy standard in that state. If this measure passes, solar companies based in Arizona could decide to leave the state and take their jobs with them. (If you live in AZ, now would be a good time to make your voice heard about this issue!).

Two large corporations have partnered to work on reducing energy and water usage in buildings. IBM and Johnson Controls will combine their expertise in technology and building efficiency to offer services to building owners.  IBM estimates the IT portion of green building efficiency in 2010 at $3 billion with expectations that it will rise to $6 billion by 2015.

Green Career Trends: $40 Million Contract Awarded for Oklahoma Wind Farm, GE Partners with Juice Tech.for EV Charging Stations, Are Post Office Vehicles Going to Be Electrified?

CPV Keenan II Renewable Energy Company has awarded a contract worth $40 million to Tetra Tech to design and build a 152 MW wind farm near Woodward, OK.  In 2009 9,922 MW of wind power was installed in the US.  Wind energy now generates 35,000 MW of electricity in the US. 

General Electric has partnered with Juice Technologies to develop charging stations for electric vehicles.  GE will design and manufacture the internal parts of the chargers and Juice will provide the end user portion.  The NY Times points out that electric vehicles and charging stations are proliferating in the Bay Area of CA. 

When looking for trends and influences in a particular industry, do not forget the US government.  Now before Congress is HR 4399, aka ‘American Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Act’. Among other things the act would 'support the eventual transition of the United States Postal Service fleet to electric drive vehicles for postal delivery'. Most postal delivery vehicles only travel 20-25 miles a day making them an ideal candidate for electrification. 

Green Career Trends: Non-Technical Green Careers Growing: 1 Block Off the Grid Receives $5 Million, Climate Legislation Increasing Green Lobbying, Solar Companies Need Marketing

For those seeking a green career in a non-technical area, consider companies like the San Francisco, CA based 1 Block off the Grid also called 1BOG.  By collecting groups of neighborhood homeowners that are committed to installing roof top solar power and then connecting them to solar installation companies, 1BOG earns referral fees for itself and volume discounts for the homeowners. The company has shown enough promise to investors that they have received $5 million to expand beyond the twelve areas in the US they currently serve.  And yes, they are hiring.

If your non-technical green career industry is advocacy, you may be interested in the debate in Washington about energy and climate legislation.  Many large non-profit organizations are working behind the scenes to get environmental legislation passed.  Groups such as the Climate Registry, the Climate Protection Action Fund, the Blue Green Alliance, and the Alliance to Save Energy are all working toward a solution.  Even though the Blue Green Alliance spent more than $1 million on lobbying last year, environmental groups had a difficult time keeping up with the spending by oil and coal companies.  In 2009 oil and coal companies spent a total of $154 million on lobbying Congress.

If after doing your research you have chosen green marketing as the industry you would like to be employed in, consider the possibilities of companies in the solar power industry.  The demand for solar power is continuing to grow, so are the number of companies supplying that power.  As the number of companies supplying that power increases, their need to "niche" and differentiate from each other grows.  Depending upon their business strategy, solar power companies and their suppliers (like solar panel inverters) may do their marketing in-house or they may hire a firm, either way green jobs are created.  Artichoke Creative, based in San Diego, CA, is an example of a specialized marketing agency.

If you'd like to learn more about non-technical green careers, sign up for our free teleclass, So...Where Are the Non-Technical Green Careers,  on February 18th.

Green Career Tip - The State of Green Business and Your Green Career – Part 1

My favorite annual report on the state of green business, was just released by GreenBiz.com and Greener World Media.

This 60+ page report provides a rich, detailed look at how green green businesses are these days.

In today's Tip of the Week I'll be sharing the green career trends I've discovered in this report.

Hint: Things are looking good for green careers!

Read or listen to this article to learn the details yourself.

Green Career Trends: Top 100 Smart Grid Players, Musicians Going Green, How to Pay for a Green MBA

Being aware of the companies and the leaders who manage them is always helpful when researching an industry.  Green Tech Media has compiled a list of the top 100 people in Smart Grid and the companies that employ them.  If your research has lead you to examine utility scale solar as your industry of choice, you may want to know who the top PV solar companies in utility scale installations are.

Perhaps you are wondering if there are green careers for non-technical, highly qualified people.  Maybe you would like a career in the music business as well as being green.  The newly formed Green Music Group was organized to reduce the environmental impact of the music industry.  Key players include: Dave Matthews Band, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow among others.

Achieving a green MBA can be a daunting undertaking.  Paying for it can also be a challenge.  In this article from the Green Economy Post, you can learn about scholarships, fellowships, assitantships, grants and other types of assistance that make paying for a green MBA easier. 

Green Career Trends: Solar/Hydrgen Process from Sun Catalytix, Parts Suppliers to Hybrid Auto Makers, Building Green Baseball Stadiums

One of the difficulties with renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines is the intermittent nature of the electrical generation.  Sun Catalytix, based in Cambridge, MA, has developed a system that uses solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen to create a hydrogen powered fuel cell.  The system mimics photosynthesis.  Here is a list of their career openings.

Not only will their be careers with electric and hybrid vehicle makers like Tesla, Fisker, Think, and the much larger auto manufacturers, but there are green careers with the suppliers of these companies, like MPC and  Poly One Corporation.  These two companies have created a low carbon footprint engine cover made from a PolyOne compund that has a metallic looking finish that will be used on the 2010 Ford Fusion.

How far have green building ideas and materials spread?  Even the national pastime of baseball is going green.  The Florida Marlins are building a new stadium and are aiming for a LEED certification of silver. However, the Marlins will not be the first major league team with a LEED silver rating stadium, that belongs to the Washington Nationals.

Green Career Trends: DuPont Invests in Solar Cells, Pike Research Employment Opportunities, NanoH20 Openings for Engineers

Wilmington, Delaware based DuPont Corp. has invested $175 million into its line of Tedlar products, which are used as a backing in solar cells.  The funding will go to Dupont's factory in Circleville, OH.  Go here to research careers at DuPont.

For those interested in a somewhat less technical career, Pike Research, based in Boulder, CO, is a market research and consulting firm that specializes in green/clean technology companies and covers such industries as corporate sustainability, smart energy, clean transportation and green building.  Go here to view their career openings.

By improving the membrane used in the water desalinization process, NanoH20, a start up  company, has lowered the amount of energy needed in the process thereby lowering the cost.  NanoH20 is based in El Segundo, CA and has openings for engineers.