International shortages loom

Driven by the twin factors of the dwindling dominance of fossil fuels in the energy-generating industry and the need to mitigate the impact of climate change by developing renewable energy resources, high demand for skills in the renewable energy industry is fast developing. While on the one hand creating an opportunity for the development of new sustainable job opportunities, a shortage of appropriate skills in this new budding industry is looming in countries across the globe. South Africa is no exception in this regard.

It is safe to state that the world is experiencing the early stages of a change over from the technological age of fossil fuels to one of renewable energy. Commentators, such as the futurist Clem Sunter, is on record as predicting that renewable energy will be the “next big thing” in the economy.

History has taught us that such a change over is seldom a smooth process, where the loss of jobs in the one sector is neatly matched by the take-up of jobs and skills in the new field.

Angela Gallacher, spokesperson for The Renewable Energy Centre in the United Kingdom, was recently quoted in a newsletter of the BSI Group in which she warned that more needs to be done to improve skills in the UK renewable sector (http://www.bsigroup.com/en/Standard-and-Publications/Newsletters--press/Latest-news).

UK Energy secretary Ed Miliband, in September this year, announced that venture capital support to the tune of ?20 million will be made available to a range of low-carbon initiatives.

Gallacher welcomed the news as “a positive step”. At the same time, however, she warned that there is “a definite need for new skills and expertise” in the industry as an entire new set of job fields is being created.

A study into the employment potential of renewable energy in South Africa, published as far back as 2003, found that this sector has the potential to create as many as 36 400 new jobs by 2020. This would be the case if South Africa generated only 15% of its total electricity use by then, using renewable energy technologies (RETs). (http://www.25degrees.net)

According to the research, the new jobs would be crated without taking away any existing jobs from the present coal-based electricity generating industry. More than 1.2 million direct and indirect jobs woud be generated if a portion of South Africa's total energy needs, including fuels, were sourced with RETs, the report claimed.

The economic stimulus package deployed in the United States also aims to create more than 100 000 “green jobs”, while the Solar Energy Industries Association in the US is expecting 119 000 jobs in the solar energy sector alone over the next two years.

The US Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), however, at the same time warned that many green projects would be hampered by a lack of the availability of appropriately skilled staff. A survey done by the AEE among its members found that a substantial number believed there will be a shortage of qualified professionals in the energy efficiency and renewable energy fields in the next five years. An even larger percentage said that there needs to be a national and state training programme for green jobs to address the potential shortfall.

While the AEE predicts that four of its members will retire over the next decade, it warned that universities have been very slow at deploying professional energy engineering programmes. Much of the training to specialise in this area had to be carried out on the job, it warned.

In the meantime, the Renewable Energy Summit held in South Africa during April this year, among its resolutions stated that “with regard to employment creation… there is a need to create a a renewable energy sector that enhances sustainable job creation (decent jobs), and raising awereness, capacity building and education targeting particularly the youth, women, entrepreneurs and other vulnerable groups; Increasing skills and technology transfer particularly to young people, women and other vulnerable groups; Undertaking severeness campaigns to promote knowledge of renewable energy options and thereby promoting the increase in their usage; and Focus on balanced skills development targeting both technical and policy making components.”

The 2003 study also concluded that generating electricity from RETs is more labour-intensive than electricity from conventional energy. More people are required, and not only highly skilled people, as is the case in developing the pebble bed modular reactor, for instance.

Because RETs stimulate decentralised electricity generation, it means that jobs will be created in rural areas, where unemployment and poverty rates are the highest.
The extent to which the change over in technologies and improvement in existing technologies also implies job losses as the 'old technology' is left behind or dramatically improved, is illustrated by the following statement in the report: “The potential for RE to address SA's high unemployment rate is especially striking when placed against the backdop of thousands of job losses in the electricity sector in the last 20 years before 2003.”

The report claims that “70 000 jobs were lost, even though the amount of electricity generated increased by over 60% between 1980 and 2000.”
Conclusions and recommendations of the report, included:

The SA economy requires higher targets for renewable energy than what was outlined in the White Paper on Renewable Energy of 2003;
Sub-targets need to be made for the different energy sources in consultation with the industry, so that the targets that are set stimulate investment in that industry;
The SA government can stimulate massive employment almost immediately and easily by investing in solar water heaters and biofuels; and
While more investment in terms of capital and skills are required in RETs, the long-term benefits – economically and socially – are quantifiable and dramatic.

The fact that there has not been satisfactory progress on this front since 2003, is clearly illustrated by some of the resolutions adopted by the April summit under the auspices of the Department of Minerals and Energy, which stated. among others, that:

“Recognising that there is a need to implement skills development and training in the renewable energy sector, government, the private sector, tertiary institutions and industry associations should work together to develop and implement appropriate programmes to grow a sustainable skills base in South Africa;
“There is a pressing need to sensitise and train officials at local and provincial government levels, for they are the people who will have to ensure that renewable energy and energy-efficiency stategies are implemented and that regulations are adhered to; and
“ESETA should urgently develop skills development programmes in the various renewable energy streams in partnership with industries and institutions involved in the sector."