- Just under 374,000 people were employed in solar energy, according to the report, while coal, gas and oil power generation combined had a workforce of slightly more than 187,000. The boom in the country's solar workforce can be attributed to construction work associated with expanding generation capacity. The gulf in employment is growing with net generation from coal falling 53 percent over the last decade. During the same period, electricity generation from natural gas increased 33 percent while solar expanded 5,000 percent.
Prompted by an article this morning revealing that 1 in 50 new jobs in the US last year was in the solar energy industry.
WanderingEng:
- electricity generation from natural gas increased 33 percent while solar expanded 5,000 percent.
Holy shit, the dishonesty in this statistic. Natural gas expanded 33 percent to become 34% of total generation. Solar expanded 5000 percent to become... 1%. Coal dropped 53% but is still out producing solar by more than 20:1. My point is the gulfs between solar and coal and natural gas is so enormous the growth and contractions can't be compared so simply. Having only a penny to your name and finding a $50 bill on the street doesn't make one richer than someone who had $1000 to begin with.
Full disclosure: I work in the electric industry though not in electric generation.
posted 2632 days ago