Scotland harbors 200,000 potential jobs in low carbon sector

The research paper, published by the Scottish Green Party, outlines how Scotland could create 200,000 jobs over the next 20 years by pursuing a new low carbon economy.

The report ‘Jobs in Scotland’s New Economy‘ uses government and industry assessments to calculate that significantly more people could be employed in sustainable industries than are currently employed in fossil fuel industries, Scotish Green Party’s press release reads.

Existing and potential employment in offshore wind and marine energy, forestry and sustainable biomass, retrofitting buildings, decommissioning the North Sea, synthetic gas, and training and research were analysed for the report.

When it comes to tidal and wave energy jobs, the report states that by installing 0.5 GW of wave energy and 0.4 GW of tidal stream per year for 20 years would require between 49.000-57.000 workers. However, the report also indicates that the overall numbers would decline, due to increased efficiency in time.

Policy ideas in the report include:

• creating a publicly-owned renewables company to encourage offshore wind, tidal and wave developments,
• prioritising North Sea decommissioning work,
• taking the Grangemouth refinery and petrochemicals plant into public ownership,
• converting Grangemouth to make and use synthetic gas to enable a long-term future,
• launching a national insulation retrofit programme,
• launching a large-scale reforesting programme,
• making available support packages for fossil fuel workers to aid their transition to new sectors.

Alison Johnstone, Scottish Green MSP, said: “By showing in detail the opportunities we have for upscaling renewables and forestry, and retrofitting housing and green chemistry, we hope to prompt a serious debate about how we build a jobs-rich, low-carbon economy. To make the most of these opportunities we need to reject austerity, prioritise investment and reconsider the billion pounds annual subsidy we give oil and gas multinationals.”

Image: Scottish Greens/Illustration