Low-carbon energy can fuel the economy

That the use of renewable energy sources has positive effects on our societies is a fact that is no longer in dispute. However, power produced from wind, solar or hydro has much more potential than simply providing our houses with electricity. In fact, if various industrial sectors were to work towards embracing renewables for their own uses, the effect on the industries and the wider economy would be tremendous.

The European Commission has reached similar conclusions in a study on the competitiveness of the renewable energy sector, published by the Directorate-General for Energy. The study focuses on the potential for renewables in the heating and cooling industries, with the existing renewables applications in these sectors already employing an impressive 650,000 full-time jobs along with a turn-over of around €67 billion.

Yet much more room for improvement exists. The Commission estimates that “if EU-based industrial and commercial companies committed to source renewable electricity to meet 30% of their total demand of electricity by 2030”, the European Union’s renewable energy sector could be able to provide 2more than €750 billion in gross added value and over 220,000 new jobs.”

The same dynamics are at work on a global level, where renewable energy sources are the fastest growing ones as fossil fuels are in decline worldwide, with solar expected to undergo a particular vast expansion. This trend should not be a surprise to anyone. After all, renewables have been seeing massive investments in recent years in tune with the growing sense of urgency surrounding the need to tackle global warming as more and more experts fear that industrial countries could fall short of the Paris climate targets.

In order to fulfil these requirements, around 90 percent of all power generation will have to come from renewable sources, particularly wind and solar, both of which are the main targets of investments. States need to invest to keep developing these industries and their technology in order to reap their economic benefits.

However, the singular focus on renewables can be misleading. Another clean power source, nuclear, carries equal benefits but is often widely ignored or even shunned – despite its contribution to zero emission electricity production, as well as to the economy in terms of providing employment, economic growth and maintaining important technical skills in society.

“Everyone talks about maintaining economic growth and one of the basic pillars for that is to generate jobs in the long run. The nuclear industry can do that,” says Patricia Wieland, head of the World Nuclear University (WNU). “We saw that in the last several countries, like South Korea, with not only quantity, but also providing high-skilled and well-paid opportunities in the top technological sector with great potential of economics of skill.”

But many governments in Europe are no longer as willing to invest into nuclear as they used to be – at the expense of strategic technical expertise. It is true that nuclear research and construction is an expensive undertaking, which consequently requires state funding. As Suzanne Jaworowksi, Senior Advisor at the US Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy observes, “you’re not going to get a lot of private funding for a multibillion-dollar demonstration reactor. You’re leaving it to very special investors and if you want to build that demonstration reactor, which you must, it’s going to require serious government R&D investment. Whatever demonstration plant you build, it’s going to be around for 50 or 60 years and will make power. So that’s the structure we are trying to create and it absolutely requires sovereign involvement.”

There is no question that the future belongs to low carbon energy sources that both help tackle climate change and provide economic growth. Yet this requires investments, and governments would be well-advised not to bet on only one horse.

Image: Robert Couse-Baker/Flickr