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Renewable energies: Effects on the labour market

Effect of increased use of renewable energies on the German labour market

With regard to energy and the environment the current and future expansion of renewable energies is hardly questioned on the national or international level today. However, since it will still require financial support for some time, it can conflict with aims of other policy areas. Since the unemployment rate is rather high in Germany, the effect of renewable energies on the labour market is of special significance.

The effects of renewable energies on the German labour market were hotly debated in the past. The decisive question lay not in how far renewable energies would affect the labour market but rather in the tendency, i. e. whether, from a general economic point of view, the use of renewable energies would lead to more jobs or if jobs would be lost. The debate was triggered by the complexity of the issue on the one hand and the insufficient data in some areas on the other hand. Another important factor are the assumptions made on the future development which, depending on how the time frame is set, allow for increasingly differing interpretations.

Further Information

• Pressrelease as at 12.09.2006: Renewable energies protect Germany's long-term jobs outlook