German Renewable Energy Jobs Failing to Pan Out (ContributorNetwork)

According to a January 7 AFP report, when Germany decided to get away from nuclear energy and look to renewable sources, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that more jobs would be provided than lost by the change in energy policy. However, as companies announce the cutting of jobs in the country, some analysts say that isn't the case.

Solar lobbyists in Germany estimate that the move away from nuclear energy could create as many as 500,000 new jobs. According to RWI institute researcher, Manuel Frondel, though, solar-industry jobs cost consumers the euro-equivalent to $318,000 U.S. dollars apiece, the AFP article stated, due to the fact that renewable projects tend to be high capital, low job-producing endeavors. Meanwhile, since the announcement of Germany's changing energy policy was made last spring, the country's biggest power supplier, EON, has announced that it will reduce its workforce by 11,000. Another supplier, RWE, has announced cuts of 8,000 jobs. Additionally, Areva will cut 1,200 jobs at its German subsidiary due to restructuring.

As of June, 2011, according to a report by the Global Post, nearly one quarter of Germany's power was generated from nuclear plants, while renewable energy sources provided seventeen percent. The country's decision to shut down all of its nuclear plants by 2022 was met with skepticism not just in how many jobs could be lost, but how the country would be able to meet its future energy needs.

Also in June, the Christian Science Monitor published an article wondering if the United States government might also opt out of nuclear power. According to Mark Hibbs, a senior associate with the nuclear policy program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, if the transfer away from nuclear proved to work well in Germany over the next ten years, the U.S. very well might consider it. The U.S. currently gets about a fifth of its power from nuclear generation.

According to Christine Todd Whitman, former EPA administrator and former New Jersey governor, the nuclear energy industry currently supports more than 100,000 jobs. Eight new nuclear facilities are planned to be build in the next fifteen years, providing jobs for "thousands of skilled workers."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120109/sc_ac/10808913_german_renewable_energy_jobs_failing_to_pan_out

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