IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v15y2011i4p2123-2133.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Metrics for measuring job creation by renewable energy technologies, using Ireland as a case study

Author

Listed:
  • Dalton, G.J.
  • Lewis, T.

Abstract

This report examines the metrics used to assess the job creation potential of renewable energy technologies (RET) industry to the economy, in particular the use of jobs/MW, and assesses the reliability of their use. Results were analysed on an individual country basis with particular emphasis on Ireland as a case study, and compared to other reports available in the literature. The wind energy industry was the main focus of the study. Other RET industries examined were PV solar, wave, biogas and geothermal, as well conventional thermal industries. Data for the calculation of jobs/MW for wind quoted in this paper was taken from the 2008 EWEA [1] report "Wind at work: wind energy and job creation in the EU". The results of the study showed that use of jobs/MW installed in one year is an unreliable metric, as ratios are sensitive to installed MW in the year of the study. This paper suggests that jobs/cumulative MW may be a more reliable metric. Unfortunately the use of both metrics is common in the literature, and it is generally difficult to ascertain which metric type has been used or what method they used to derive the statistic. Furthermore, ill-defined classification of 'direct' and 'indirect jobs' and whether jobs quoted relate to national statistics or include export can lead to confusion and produce inaccurate and distorted country performance comparisons. Alternative metrics such as jobs/1000 head of population or MW/million head of population may be more reliable indicators. It is recommended that some form of standardisation needs to be created in the use of such terms for ease and reliability of analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Dalton, G.J. & Lewis, T., 2011. "Metrics for measuring job creation by renewable energy technologies, using Ireland as a case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 2123-2133, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:15:y:2011:i:4:p:2123-2133
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364-0321(11)00039-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blanco, Maria Isabel & Rodrigues, Glória, 2009. "Direct employment in the wind energy sector: An EU study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2847-2857, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Černý, Martin & Bruckner, Martin & Weinzettel, Jan & Wiebe, Kirsten & Kimmich, Christian & Kerschner, Christian & Hubacek, Klaus, 2024. "Global employment and skill level requirements for ‘Post-Carbon Europe’," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    2. Luigi Aldieri & Jonas Grafström & Kristoffer Sundström & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2019. "Wind Power and Job Creation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.
    3. Kyriakarakos, George & Patlitzianas, Konstantinos & Damasiotis, Markos & Papastefanakis, Dimitrios, 2014. "A fuzzy cognitive maps decision support system for renewables local planning," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 209-222.
    4. Nasirov, Shahriyar & Girard, Aymeric & Peña, Cristobal & Salazar, Felipe & Simon, François, 2021. "Expansion of renewable energy in Chile: Analysis of the effects on employment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    5. Simas, Moana & Pacca, Sergio, 2014. "Assessing employment in renewable energy technologies: A case study for wind power in Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 83-90.
    6. Cartelle Barros, Juan José & Lara Coira, Manuel & de la Cruz López, María Pilar & del Caño Gochi, Alfredo, 2017. "Comparative analysis of direct employment generated by renewable and non-renewable power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 542-554.
    7. Niall Farrell, 2014. "Chapter 06: Wind Energy in Ireland," Chapters from Rural Economic Development in Ireland, in: Rural Economic Development in Ireland, edition 1, chapter 6, Rural Economy and Development Programme,Teagasc.
    8. Troldborg, Mads & Heslop, Simon & Hough, Rupert L., 2014. "Assessing the sustainability of renewable energy technologies using multi-criteria analysis: Suitability of approach for national-scale assessments and associated uncertainties," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1173-1184.
    9. Varela Vázquez, Pedro & Sánchez Carreira, María del Carmen & Pereira López, Xesús, 2014. "Estimación del impacto económico del sector eólico en Galicia en el periodo 2000-2010 || Estimation of the Economic Impact of the Wind Energy Sector in Galicia during 2000-2010," Revista de Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa = Journal of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, vol. 18(1), pages 18-33, December.
    10. Lambert, Rosebud Jasmine & Silva, Patrícia Pereira, 2012. "The challenges of determining the employment effects of renewable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4667-4674.
    11. Dalton, Gordon & Allan, Grant & Beaumont, Nicola & Georgakaki, Aliki & Hacking, Nick & Hooper, Tara & Kerr, Sandy & O’Hagan, Anne Marie & Reilly, Kieran & Ricci, Pierpaolo & Sheng, Wanan & Stallard, T, 2015. "Economic and socio-economic assessment methods for ocean renewable energy: Public and private perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 850-878.
    12. Zerrahn, Alexander, 2017. "Wind Power and Externalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 245-260.
    13. Heras, Jorge & Martín, Mariano, 2020. "Social issues in the energy transition: Effect on the design of the new power system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    14. Lavidas, George, 2019. "Energy and socio-economic benefits from the development of wave energy in Greece," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1290-1300.
    15. Ina Meyer & Mark Sommer, 2014. "Employment Effects of Renewable Energy Supply – A Meta Analysis. WWWforEurope Policy Paper No. 12," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47225, April.
    16. Buchmayr, A. & Verhofstadt, E. & Van Ootegem, L. & Sanjuan Delmás, D. & Thomassen, G. & Dewulf, J., 2021. "The path to sustainable energy supply systems: Proposal of an integrative sustainability assessment framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Ortega, Margarita & Río, Pablo del & Ruiz, Pablo & Thiel, Christian, 2015. "Employment effects of renewable electricity deployment. A novel methodology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 940-951.
    18. Varela-Vázquez, Pedro & Sánchez-Carreira, María del Carmen, 2015. "Socioeconomic impact of wind energy on peripheral regions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 982-990.
    19. Michela Piccarozzi, 2017. "Does Social Innovation Contribute to Sustainability? The Case of Italian Innovative Start-Ups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-28, December.
    20. Lund, Henrik & Hvelplund, Frede, 2012. "The economic crisis and sustainable development: The design of job creation strategies by use of concrete institutional economics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 192-200.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dietmar Edler, 2012. "Modeling Economic Impacts of Renewable Energy Expansion – The Experience for Germany," EcoMod2012 4629, EcoMod.
    2. Luigi Aldieri & Jonas Grafström & Kristoffer Sundström & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2019. "Wind Power and Job Creation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.
    3. Mostafaeipour, Ali, 2010. "Productivity and development issues of global wind turbine industry," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 1048-1058, April.
    4. Arvanitopoulos, T. & Agnolucci, P., 2020. "The long-term effect of renewable electricity on employment in the United Kingdom," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    5. Klinge Jacobsen, Henrik & Pade, Lise Lotte & Schröder, Sascha Thorsten & Kitzing, Lena, 2014. "Cooperation mechanisms to achieve EU renewable targets," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 345-352.
    6. Raitano, Michele & Romano, Eleonora & Zoppoli, Pietro, 2017. "Renewable energy sources in Italy: Sectorial intensity and effects on earnings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 117-127.
    7. Luigi Aldieri & Jonas Grafström & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2021. "The Effect of Marshallian and Jacobian Knowledge Spillovers on Jobs in the Solar, Wind and Energy Efficiency Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-16, July.
    8. John Dorrell & Keunjae Lee, 2020. "The Cost of Wind: Negative Economic Effects of Global Wind Energy Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-25, July.
    9. Antoni, Manfred & Janser, Markus & Lehmer, Florian, 2015. "The hidden winners of renewable energy promotion: Insights into sector-specific wage differentials," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 595-613.
    10. Papapostolou, Aikaterini & Karakosta, Charikleia & Nikas, Alexandros & Psarras, John, 2017. "Exploring opportunities and risks for RES-E deployment under Cooperation Mechanisms between EU and Western Balkans: A multi-criteria assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 519-530.
    11. Kaldellis, John K. & Zafirakis, D., 2011. "The wind energy (r)evolution: A short review of a long history," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1887-1901.
    12. Simas, Moana & Pacca, Sergio, 2014. "Assessing employment in renewable energy technologies: A case study for wind power in Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 83-90.
    13. Francisco Haces-Fernandez, 2022. "Assessment of the Financial Benefits from Wind Farms in US Rural Locations," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-23, September.
    14. Damien Bazin & Emna Omri & Nouri Chtourou, 2015. "Solar Thermal Energy for Sustainable Development in Tunisia," Post-Print halshs-01070616, HAL.
    15. Carbajo, Ruth & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2018. "Renewable energy research and technologies through responsible research and innovation looking glass: Reflexions, theoretical approaches and contemporary discourses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 792-808.
    16. Katarzyna Chudy-Laskowska & Tomasz Pisula & Mirosław Liana & László Vasa, 2020. "Taxonomic Analysis of the Diversity in the Level of Wind Energy Development in European Union Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-21, August.
    17. Kandpal, Tara C. & Broman, Lars, 2014. "Renewable energy education: A global status review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 300-324.
    18. Cai, Wenjia & Mu, Yaqian & Wang, Can & Chen, Jining, 2014. "Distributional employment impacts of renewable and new energy–A case study of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1155-1163.
    19. Nasirov, Shahriyar & Girard, Aymeric & Peña, Cristobal & Salazar, Felipe & Simon, François, 2021. "Expansion of renewable energy in Chile: Analysis of the effects on employment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:15:y:2011:i:4:p:2123-2133. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.