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Renewable Energy Trends

Jay Slough - Saturday, June 19, 2010

The growing number of federal and state incentives, legislations and tax credits for companies generating renewable energy sent a clear message that the renewable energy sector is on the rise. It carries with it a huge potential for energy efficiency and profitability while helping to protect and preserve the planet. This collective foray in renewable energy is quite evident in the ‘clean energy economy’ which has been regarded as a key component of the United State’s new economic landscape.

Based on a report from The Pew Charitable Trusts titled The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America,

the clean energy economy has been fuelling jobs and business opportunities across the 50 states for nearly a decade. In fact, jobs in the clean energy economy rose by 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, outperforming total jobs, which only grew by about 3.7 percent.  As states continue to implement policies to contribute more to the clean energy economy, the market has seen a sharp increase in demand for renewable energy sources and energy-efficient products and services.  A report issued by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory revealed that between 2001 and 2006, the demand for renewable energy increased a thousand-fold. There is no doubt that the renewable energy industry is generating an unprecedented number of jobs while concurrently promoting environmental consciousness.

Businesses are receiving tax credits for shifting their power sources to renewable energy. This has resulted into a steady boost in the demand for workers in every sector of the industry including research and development, power generation, distribution, installation, service and technical support. In addition, multinational corporations such as General Electric, FedEx, Kinko’s, Starbucks, Bank of America, Toyota and General Motors have made the switch to renewable energy. For these companies, going green is not just about image building, they know that it has the potential to cut costs while helping to clean up the environment. Even the U.S. military has taken an active role in promoting the clean energy economy. The Pentagon ordered all branches of the military to reduce energy consumption by 2% through the help of renewable power sources such as wind and solar energy.

In the construction and real estate industry, builders and developers are riding the band wagon not only because of a sense that it's the right thing to do, but also because of the realization that they simply can't afford to be left behind. More and more real estate developers are currently using green construction materials and building technologies as these have been proven to add no more than one to two percent to their total costs, which can quickly be recovered through energy savings. At present, the federal government is requiring new public buildings to comply with the LEED standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), that necessitates the utilizations of non-toxic construction materials.

The trend towards the use of renewable energy is at its all-time high and if we look down the horizon, we can only see more innovations heading our way. But regardless of what’s in store for us, one thing is certain: as the demand for renewable energy continues, research and development into better ways of harnessing renewable energy will also continue. Ultimately, we will all have more efficient and affordable energy sources.


   

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