February 27, 2017

Twice as many employed in solar than in coal industry

Fast Company Magazine - As solar power keeps getting cheaper—and more and more of it is built as a result—the industry is also an increasingly important source of new jobs, adding workers at a rate nearly 17 times faster than the overall economy. Twice as many people now work in solar than in the coal industry, according to a new survey from the nonprofit Solar Foundation.

While 40 coal plants were retired in the U.S. in 2016, and no new coal plants were built, the solar industry broke records for new installations, with 14,000 megawatts of new installed power. Many of the jobs came from constructing massive solar plants like the Springbok Solar Farm, which is being built on a site that sprawls over 12 miles in the Mojave Desert. ... Sales, manufacturing, and other solar industry jobs are also growing throughout the country. Overall, 44 of 50 states doubled (or more than doubled) the number of solar jobs in 2016, according to the report. One in 50 new jobs in the country last year was in solar.

3 comments:

Tom Puckett said...

Our 28 solar panels in the DC area have generated almost 10 MWH since installation about one year ago.

Solar chimneys and mid-west wind farms could and should power the country.

Solar chimneys work on a temperature differential. As height from the ground is reached, the ambient temperature drops one degree for every 100 feet. This guides hot surface air to rush up the tower, turning turbines at its base, which only need a little oil now and again for maintenance.

LA was supposed to have pre-purchased all the power from the Arizona solar chimney into the foreseeable future...

https://cleantechnica.com/2011/08/01/giant-arizona-solar-tower-high-energy-with-hot-air/

On the political end, how about proposing a bill to take some defense/agression or other monies and subsidize coal and oil outfits to retool into solar and wind?

The political approach could be, no large corporation has to lose anything from their bottom line, but the planet is benefited by switching to the current know best practices.

As anticipated by the Robert Hunter lyrics:
   Now I don't know but I been told
   it's hard to run with the weight of gold
   Other hand I heard it said
   it's just as hard with the weight of lead

Keep on keeping on...

Cheers, Tom

Anonymous said...

Great idea.Lets fill the Grand Canyon with solar chimneys.It's nothing but a big hole in the ground anyway and its not like we're considering aesthetics when considering 600 foot 'stacks all over the place(well,just some places without enough votes to object).

Unknown said...

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