Green jobs in the Spanish renewable energy sector: an input-output approach
Tomás, Manuel ;Cazcarro, Ignacio ;Montilla, Julen ;Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina ;Arto, Iñaki (2023). Green jobs in the Spanish renewable energy sector: an input-output approach. Handbook on the Economics of Renewable Energy, 138 - 156. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
The results reported here fill a gap in the literature since, to our knowledge, recent studies on the employment footprint and spillover effects of policies related to investments in clean energy sources in Spain are not available. We analyse the employment multiplier of the two technologies with the greatest deployment potential in the country: wind and solar. With that
in mind, we take a widely used multi-regional input-output model, which enables us to assess the employment footprint of these renewable technologies, differentiating between direct and indirect employment, and accounting for domestic and foreign spillover impacts in Europe and the rest of the world. At the same time, our approach considers different investment allocations across sectors for each renewable technology and different scenarios for the distribution of investment between domestic production and international trade in key investment goods.
The analysis shows that Spain could create between 6.13 and 12.75 jobs for every million euros invested in renewables, depending on the assumptions and scenarios considered. Most of the jobs created in Spain and the rest of the EU would be direct, while the indirect effects would be stronger in the other regions of the world. In general, solar energy generates more jobs overall, but wind energy creates more jobs in Spain (8.89 vs. 8.65). In addition, we find that wind results in more jobs in sectors such as construction, machinery and electrical equipment and components, while solar technologies create more jobs in the professional services and computer and electronic products sectors.
The results reported here fill a gap in the literature since, to our knowledge, recent studies on the employment footprint and spillover effects of policies related to investments in clean energy sources in Spain are not available. We analyse the employment multiplier of the two technologies with the greatest deployment potential in the country: wind and solar. With that
in mind, we take a widely used multi-regional input-output model, which enables us to assess the employment footprint of these renewable technologies, differentiating between direct and indirect employment, and accounting for domestic and foreign spillover impacts in Europe and the rest of the world. At the same time, our approach considers different investment allocations across sectors for each renewable technology and different scenarios for the distribution of investment between domestic production and international trade in key investment goods.
The analysis shows that Spain could create between 6.13 and 12.75 jobs for every million euros invested in renewables, depending on the assumptions and scenarios considered. Most of the jobs created in Spain and the rest of the EU would be direct, while the indirect effects would be stronger in the other regions of the world. In general, solar energy generates more jobs overall, but wind energy creates more jobs in Spain (8.89 vs. 8.65). In addition, we find that wind results in more jobs in sectors such as construction, machinery and electrical equipment and components, while solar technologies create more jobs in the professional services and computer and electronic products sectors.