We recently conducted a survey of Great Green Careers job seekers. We wanted to know about them and what they were seeking. Here’s what we discovered:

• 59% are currently employed, either by a company or themselves
• They work in a variety of industries, including construction (5.5%), healthcare (6.5%), sales/marketing (6.2%), non-profit (5.4%), and IT/technology (5.4%)
• Only 27% of the respondents consider their current job ‘green’
• 94% would like to move to a ‘greener’ job
• Over 28% plan to go back to school to find a greener job
• Top parts of the green economy that our users are targeting include: energy (39%), non-profits (30%), agriculture/forestry/fishing (28%), and construction (24%)
• Most of the Great Green Careers job seekers are 45 or older

Thanks to everyone who participated!

• 350Green to Install City-Wide Network of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Chicago: The company expects that construction, operation and management of the 73 DC Fast and 207 Level 2 charging stations, plus the opening of a nationwide customer support center, will create approximately 50 jobs in the greater Chicago area.
• Iberdrola Renewables and FirstEnergy Solutions Sign Power Purchase Agreement for Ohio’s Largest Wind Project: Iberdrola Renewables has announced that FirstEnergy Solutions, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corporation, will purchase 100 megawatts (MW) of output from the 304-MW Blue Creek Wind Farm, which Iberdrola Renewables is building in western Ohio. The Blue Creek Wind Farm is the first large-scale wind operation in Ohio to begin construction.
• Florida Governor Rick Scott tries to kill high speed rail, Senator Nelson attempting CPR: In a move that has many shaking their heads in disbelief, Florida’s newly elected Governor Rick Scott is refusing to accept $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money in an attempt to kill a long-desired high speed rail project that the funds were meant to kick start.The project, if it makes it through this impasse, could provide as many as 24,000 jobs and begin with a line between Tampa and Orlando.
• SoloPower lands loan guarantee for solar plant: SoloPower said yesterday that it has conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for a $197 million loan guarantee to build a factory in Oregon. The move gives San Jose, Calif.-based SoloPower the financial wherewithal to expand beyond a smaller demonstration plant in San Jose. The company has also gotten a loan and tax credits from the state of Oregon.
• Biofuel center to replace citrus plant in Florida: Construction began yesterday in Florida on the grounds of a former citrus-processing factory to build one of the first commercial-scale biofuel plants in the U.S.When completed and fully operational, the Indian River BioEnergy Center is expected to produce 8 million gallons of bio-ethanol per year.

Although there are many jobs in the green economy that don’t require special education, it’s often helpful to have specific training or degrees if you want to increase your earning power and responsibility. Below is a sampling of programs and training that can help you out:

Masters programs: These can include advanced degrees in environmental engineering, environmental sciences, and much more-

• M.S. in Sustainability Management: Offered by Columbia University; focused on the complex issues of environmental and sustainability management; contact Louise Rosen, lar46@columbia.edu
• M.S. in Environment & Community: Offered by Antioch University; approach environmental policy and sustainability issues from both a social science and natural science perspective; contact http://www.enviroeducation.com/cgi-bin/trk.cgi?http://www.antiochsea.edu/academics/enviro/index.html
• M.S. in Public Policy & Management: Offered by Carnegie Mellon University; focuses on environmental policy and research; contact http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/school-of-public-policy-management/public-policy-management-msppm/index.aspx

Solar and Wind training:

• NABCEP Registered Providers �of Entry Level PV Exam: excellent resource with listings of community colleges and other training providers
• Solar Living Institute: Offers regular workshops on designing and installing photovoltaic systems
• Infinite Solar School PA: 5-day trainings for certification by NABCEP and IREC
• Ontility: Solar, wind, and energy efficiency training 
• Boots on the Roof: Solar and wind training aimed at HVAC contractors
• Solar Source Institute: Provides design, installation, and business-related training

What’s happening in green jobs:

• Mascoma to build cellulistic ethanol plant in Michigan: the Mascoma Corporation of Lebanon, N.H., said it had reached an agreement with Valero, the nation’s largest independent oil refiner, under which Valero would take the entire output of a commercial plant that Mascoma was to break ground on this year in Kinross, Mich. It is the first such “offtake” agreement in the industry, Mascoma said. The plant is supposed to be running by 2013.
• A Silicon Valley photovoltaic cell maker plans a huge factory in South Carolina: By the end of 2014, AQT Solar’s thin-film solar factory will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 1,000 megawatts and employ up to 1,000 workers.
• Evergreen Solar shutters costly US plant: Evergreen Solar will close its Massachusetts factory, saying that the U.S. is at a disadvantage in the face of low-cost Chinese solar suppliers. The company yesterday said that its Devens, Mass., plant, a converted military facility, will be shut down by the end of the first quarter of this year. The move will result in 800 lost jobs, leaving about 100 in its Marlborough, Mass.-based headquarters.
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  Mortenson Construction and enXco Partner to Build 400 MW Wind Capacity in Minnesota: Mortenson Construction and San Diego-based developer, enXco have completed the 201-megawatt Nobles Wind Project in Reading, Minnesota. The Nobles Wind Project represents about half of the 400 megawatts the enXco-Mortenson partnership plans to install in Minnesota by the summer of 2011. Mortenson and enXco are building the 205.5-megawatt Lakefield Wind Project about 30 miles from the Nobles project site in the southwest corner of Minnesota which will be completed by September of 2011.

• Green Jobs Outpace Overall California Job Market Recovery: The second edition of the Many Shades of Green report, published by California-focused research group Next 10, looks at how green jobs changed throughout the state from January 2008 to the start of 2009. While overall jobs grew less than 1 percent, green jobs grew by 3 percent.

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As the immediate effects of the BP oil spill begin to fade, the long term effects are still be determined. The cleanup will continue to generate new jobs in the Gulf Region for months (if not years) to come. However, the oil spill wasn’t the only news in the green economy - read on:

• New efforts on a renewable electricity standard: Some clean energy and climate advocates have shifted their sights to a scaled-back but still ambitious goal: passage of a national renewable electricity standard. Such a law would require utility companies to produce a set amount of electricity from renewable sources by a certain date, spurring the development of clean sources like wind and solar and probably lowering overall emissions nationally. Such a standard would drive additional employment in the wind and solar sectors.
• Wind farm ‘mega-project’ underway in Mojave Desert: the project is officially breaking ground in the Tehachapi Pass, a burgeoning hot spot for wind energy about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. When completed, Alta could produce three times as much energy as the country’s largest existing wind farm, analysts said. It’s slated to be done in the next decade and will create hundreds of construction and maintenance jobs.
• New Stirling engine solar heating and power system in Colorado: Cool Energy, of Boulder, Colorado, a developer of clean energy heat and power generating systems, today announced that Xcel Energy will be providing research and analytical support for the first planned pilot field installation of the SolarFlowÆ System in a commercial building located in Boulder, Colorado.
• Xtreme Power raises cash for renewable-energy storage: Xtreme Power, an Austin, Texas company which is commercializing battery technology originally developed for electric vehicles, is expected to announce on Tuesday that it has raised nearly $30 million to expand into utility energy storage.

The summer is finally here, with heat drenching much of the nation. Green job news keeps popping up - which is a good thing!

• The Parking Lot as ‘Solar Grove’: Envision Solar builds  â”solar groves,” 1,000-square-foot canopies that shade parking lots while generating clean power from an array of photovoltaic panels.The company is now branching out into electric car generation by outfitting its solar canopies with charging stations for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.
• Green homes combine solar and energy efficiency: Meritage Homes, one of America’s top ten home builders, is now constructing more than 200 homes near Phoenix, Arizona that will be up to 80 percent more energy efficient than typical existing homes of the same size. The standard equipment solar energy system on the homes is the major player in cutting energy costs.
• Rosendin Electric Breaks Ground on $50 Million Solar Project: Rosendin Electric, the nation’s largest private electrical contractor and a 100-percent employee-owned company, will break ground this week on a new photovoltaic power installation project for the Antelope Valley Union High School District.
• Toshiba to Build Electric Drive Motors in the U.S.: Toshiba Corporation will expand manufacturing capacity at its plant in Houston, Texas for production of high-performance drive motors for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). Toshiba will begin construction for the expanded capacity in January 2011 in Houston, Texas, on the site of Toshiba International Corporation. Production of the automotive motors would begin in 2012.
• Green tech, jobs hailed in Virgin America expansion:Virgin’s new routes and expanded presence at San Francisco’s airport will bring 500 jobs to the state per year over the course of the next few years.

It’s that time again - a roundup of the latest green jobs news for everyone. Take a look at what’s happening in the green economy this month:

• Coal jobs moving to natural gas: The electricity market is in the doldrums, but the market for new generating stations that use natural gas is going strong, industry experts say. Why? Because gas is beginning to replace coal. This will create construction and operational jobs.
• Photovoltaic manufacturing in Canada: A new highly automated PV module production site based in Ontario with a capacity of 120 MW to be reached in two stages - the first 60MW will be completed by the second quarter of 2011 whereas the remaining 60 MW will be finalized by the end of next year.
• BlueChip Energy Starts Development of 10 MW Solar Farm in Florida: BlueChip Energy ™ has announced it has started stage one of the Rinehart Solar Farm, a 10 MW utility-scale solar PV facility in Central Florida. The project will create approximately 100 jobs during construction.
• Kyocera begins manufacturing solar cells in US: Kyocera has announced that it has begun manufacturing solar modules in San Diego, California to serve the U.S. market’s growing demand for clean, sustainable solar electric generating systems. Kyocera Group companies currently employ approximately 4,000 people in the United States.
• Forecast for LED lighting is bright:By 2020, nearly half (46 percent) of the $4.4 billion commercial lighting business will be given over to LED lighting, leading to more manufacturing and sales jobs.

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is shaping up to be one of the world’s worst environmental disasters - one that will be with us for months, if not years. It will adversely affect millions of people, sea creatures, and plants. But even as BP struggles to shut down the well, hundreds of people are rushing to fight the spill. In fact, this disaster shines a spotlight on a part of the green economy you may not have considered - environmental monitoring and mitigation. These folks step in when things go wrong.To give you an idea of the scope, BP alone has 22,000 people involved in oil spill cleanup and mitigation!

What types of jobs are these? Let’s take a look:

• Commercial boat operators: to deploy booms, maneuver materials and equipment
• Environmental engineer: to measure and design responses to spills
• Oil spill cleanup workers: to work on and offshore responding directly to site conditions; usually requires OSHA hazardous waste certification and training
• Field technician: monitors water and air conditions prior to and after exposure from oil spill
• Logistics and support personnel: to operate trucks, boats, and other transportation equipment in support of spill cleanup efforts
• Biologist: to assist in collecting and treating soiled birds and other wildlife
• Skilled and unskilled laborer: to remove debris, set up protective barriers, and related activities
• Heavy equipment operator: to erect tents, operate fork lifts, erect barriers, and related activities

Good luck in your job hunt!

Lots of action in the green economy in the past few weeks - check it out:

• Lake Erie offshore wind project is a ‘go’: General Electric and an Ohio-based wind developer plan to build an offshore wind farm in Lake Erie in late 2012. The Great Lakes region has good wind and potential for substantial power production.
• Toyota and Telsa to revive Fremont plant for electric vehicles: Toyota announced plans today to build an electric vehicle at the recently closed New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, Calif. Reopening the plant will create 1,000 jobs.
• 900 homes have solar panels at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina: The United States military will have solar panels for hot water installed in 900 homes at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, making the base one of the largest residential producers of solar thermal power. Each house on the base will have one panel on its roof that will cover 75 percent of its hot water needs.
• Climate bill will create 200,000 jobs: A new report estimates that, if enacted, the provisions in the Senate climate and energy bill  would create 200,000 new jobs each year from 2011 to 2020. Given that the number of employed civilians in the United States currently exceeds 140 million, that’s a drop in the bucket.
• Cannon Power Group and Gamesa Partner on Baja California Wind Farm: Cannon Power Group and Gamesa Technology Corp. have announced that they have entered into an agreement for the development of a series of wind farms known as the Aubanel Wind Project in Baja California, Mexico near the town of La Rumorosa – approximately 60 miles east of San Diego and 15 miles south of the US - Mexico border.
• DOE awards $62 million for solar power R&D : The U.S. Department of Energy has made $62 million available to 13 companies to test equipment and materials, such as molten salts, to add storage to solar power systems that use heat to produce electricity.

Want to get a green job but don’t have the background or skills? You’re not alone - plenty of folks find themselves in the same boat. In addition to going back to school for more training, you should consider a volunteer or internship position at a green company.

One of the advantages of volunteering is that you can gain experience with an organization AND meet others who work in the green economy. These new contacts may help you in finding a paying job. You’ll also have the satisfaction of knowing that your efforts are helping valuable organizations - even if they don’t pay you right away.

A good place to start your hunt for a volunteer position is the Corporation for National and Community Service.This website has lots of great information about organizations that need volunteers, plus an extensive section on AmeriCorps, which has a number of green-focused positions (both paid and unpaid).

Internships provide a more focused, pre-professional work experience. An internship provides a way to ‘test the waters’ at a specific company or in a particular occupation without making the long term commitment of a full-time job. You can start your search at websites such Internweb.com, which enables you to specify location, industry, job function, time of year and keyword.

Internships can be paid or unpaid, and some may even offer college credit. However, make sure you are clear on the terms of the internship before accepting. Remember, keeping your long term focus on what you want to do in the green economy is key to finding an internship or volunteer position that will get you there.