Report Finds Major Economic Benefits to Efficiency, Renewables

November 14, 2007

The U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries created jobs for 8.5 million people in 2006, while generating more than a trillion dollars in sales, $100 billion in profits, and $150 billion in increased federal, state, and local government tax revenues, according to a new report from the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). The report notes that it's difficult to define the energy efficiency industry, but even focusing on the renewable energy industry, it found 196,000 people directly employed by the industry, a total of 452,000 jobs created, and revenues of $39.2 billion in 2006.

Looking forward to 2030, the report examines three scenarios: a "business as usual" scenario, with no major policy changes; a moderate scenario that includes incremental policy advances; and an advanced scenario of aggressive growth in renewable energy and energy efficiency. In the "business as usual" scenario, the jobs created by renewable energy increase 190% by 2030, while jobs created by energy efficiency increase by 85%. In the moderate scenario, the jobs created by renewable energy increase nearly 7-fold, while jobs created by energy efficiency more than double. And in the advanced scenario, the jobs created by renewable energy increase 17-fold, while jobs created by energy efficiency quadruple. In the advanced scenario, renewable energy revenues increase to nearly $600 billion, while energy efficiency revenues increase to almost $4 trillion. The report also includes a case study on renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in Ohio. See the ASES press release and the full report (PDF 1.2 MB). Download Adobe Reader.