While there are signs that the economy is starting to turn around, I know for sure that there are still a lot of people in America who are out of a job, and lots of companies that are struggling to making it through this downturn. During the downturn, the renewable energy industry has been one of the bright spots in the economy; while it may not have grown as fast as some people were predicting before the downturn, it is continuing to see growth, which is more than we can say for most other sectors. As a result, a lot of people are thinking about going green in their work and wondering how they can get a piece of the action, particularly if they don’t have the background that they think they need in order to break into the renewable energy industry.
I have been to a number of presentations on opportunities in the renewable energy industry, and I have heard a consistent message: You don’t need to go back to school and get a new degree, or start from scratch building a new company. The renewable energy industry requires a lot of the same skills and capabilities that workers and existing companies already have; just find the role that you or your company can play in the green revolution, and look for the opportunities there.
As an example, let’s consider the wind power companies in Colorado. There are some big names that you would easily associate with the wind energy industry, like wind turbine manufacturers GE, Vestas, and Clipper Windpower. However, there are other companies, like Rocky Mountain Crane Service, that you might not automatically associate with wind power; somebody has got to lift those huge wind turbine parts into place! Wind farm construction is a major undertaking, and surely there are aspects that a company with the right capabilities could come in and improve upon. For example, just transporting the huge wind turbine blades and sections of towers is a huge problem that is one of the limiting factors on wind turbine size these days. Perhaps there is an opportunity for a freight company to provide a better solution to transporting wind turbine parts? Even if you don’t own a company, you may be thinking about green investing; perhaps this broadens your perspective on investment opportunities in companies that may be benefiting from the growth of the wind industry.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a job, there are many green companies that may need the skills that you already have. If you scan the listings of green jobs, in addition to jobs that require very specific electrical and mechanical engineering skill, there are also many jobs that require skills that you may have already applied in other industries, from business development and project management to clerical and construction work. It is important to remember that green companies will have many of the same business functions that other companies have, so there is a good chance that your abilities will carry over to wind power and other green industries. And, if you can get into an industry that has great growth potential for the foreseeable future, why not jump on board and put yourself on a path to greater financial security?
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I’m with you here man. But it seems like saving planet is not that high on agenda these days. We have a lot to learn from Europe. Especially Scandinavian countries. Seems like Obama wasted all political capital on healthcare and I wonder if anything will be done on green front.