Emerging Workforce Trends in the U.S. Energy and Mining Industries A Call to Action (2013) / Chapter Skim
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3 Emerging Sectors INTRODUCTION The renewable sectors of solar, wind, and geothermal energy and the sector of carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) , which includes geological carbon sequestration, are not as mature or as long established as the sectors of oil and gas, nuclear energy, and mining discussed in Chapter 2.
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EMERGING SECTORS 97 in which the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) system handles the emerging sectors.
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98 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES PV systems convert solar power directly into electric power.
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EMERGING SECTORS 99 FIGURE 3.1 (Left) Utility-scale PV system .
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100 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES FIGURE 3.2 Number of U.S.
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EMERGING SECTORS 101 FIGURE 3.3 Annual installed capacity of U.S. grid-connected PV installations by sector (2002-2011)
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102 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES The average size of grid-tied systems has been growing in all three PV sectors.
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EMERGING SECTORS 103 FIGURE 3.4 Price reductions to achieve the SunShot Initiative goal of $1/watt PV system costs. SOURCE: Friedman (2011)
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104 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES age of direct sunlight, significant growth in CSP is anticipated in the southwestern United States.
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EMERGING SECTORS 105 TABLE 3.1 Solar energy generating capacity and generation (EIA Reference case)
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106 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES some jurisdictions, but a 2- or 4-year technical degree may be sufficient in others.
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EMERGING SECTORS 107 TABLE 3.2 Solar Job Categories, Numbers of Jobs, Growth Rates, and Projections for 2010-2013. 2012-2013 2011-2012 2013 Expected 2011 Jobs Growth Projected Growth Subsector 2010 Jobs (revised)
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108 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES ogy development so that renewable energy will become economically competi tive with conventional generation sources.
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EMERGING SECTORS 109 most locations. With incentives and the associated economies of scale, the cost of PV modules has fallen dramatically from about $6.50 per watt in 1985 to less than $1.70 per watt in 2010 (Mints 2008, 2011)
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110 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES Table 3.3 Solar Jobs for Selected Occupational Categories.
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EMERGING SECTORS 111 TABLE 3.4 Growth rate of solar jobs (TSF, 2012)
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112 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)
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EMERGING SECTORS 113 Education and Training In 2008, several organizations, including the IREC and the Florida Solar Energy Center, conducted focus group meetings with industry representatives and highly experienced faculty to identify the most pressing needs for solar training. The result was a prioritized list of training needs, as follows: system installers, system designers and engineers, licensed contractors, building code officials, sales and site assessment personnel, architects and building designers, utility personnel, and construction cost accountants (Ventre and Weissman, 2009)
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114 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES With the broad spectrum of training needs, community colleges can play a special role.
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EMERGING SECTORS 115 teaching renewable energy courses. The goal of IREC credentialing is to provide evidence that graduates from accredited training programs achieve the necessary knowledge and skills to be successful.
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116 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES Innovation Incremental Innovation Much of the innovation in solar thermal technology has been incremen tal; most resulting in new materials, better components, more efficient designs, improved manufacturing processes, and a more skilled workforce.
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EMERGING SECTORS 117 Finally, it should be noted that grid parity between conventional generation and PV power production is a tipping point that appears to be rapidly approach ing, especially for utility-scale applications. Once achieved, transformational changes could occur in the generation and distribution of electricity.
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118 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES competitive with conventional electric power production before 2020.
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EMERGING SECTORS 119 credentials through construction-trade, vocational-technical, community college, and university certificate and degree programs. (Medium Term)
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120 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES 70 m diameter Pitch Rotor Boeing 747 Low-speed Blade - 35 m Jumbo Jet shaft Span 59.6 m Rotor Gear box Length 70.5m Generator Wind Anemometer Controller 95 m direction Brake Nacelle (see inset for details)
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EMERGING SECTORS 121 FIGURE 3.6 Wind farm. SOURCE: http://www.dis.anl.gov/projects/windpowerforecasting.
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122 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES Box 3.1 Minerals Used in the Wind Turbine Industry Minerals used in the fabrication, construction, and connection of utility-scale wind turbines include iron, steel, copper, and aluminum.
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EMERGING SECTORS 123 a magnetic material can supply to an external magnetic circuit) than ceramic mag nets, and so generator fields constructed from permanent magnets can be lighter and more efficient.
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EMERGING SECTORS 125 TABLE 3.5 Wind Energy Generating Capacity (EIA Reference Case)
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126 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES chain network.
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EMERGING SECTORS 127 FIGURE 3.9 Wind power distribution by state.
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128 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES downturn that was not predicted in these estimates, some inherent conservatism makes these numbers useful for looking at the future workforce needs.
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EMERGING SECTORS 129 TABLE 3.6 Wind Power Engineering Occupational Categories. Tower and foundation design CE Road design CE Structural and blade design, testing CE/ME Surveyors CE Geotechnical engineer CE Geotechnical testing GEOL/CE Environmental management CE/Env.
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130 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES TABLE 3.7 Other Wind Power Occupational Categories.
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EMERGING SECTORS 131 FIGURE 3.11 Wind industry jobs. SOURCE: Adapted from AWEA (2012a, Fig.
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132 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES carry out much of the infrastructure construction from access roads to foundations for the turbines.
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EMERGING SECTORS 133 Summary The direct job skills required in the wind power industry are, to a significant degree, the same as skills in other large sectors of the workforce. For example, the skills required to build a wind farm are similar to skills found in heavy construc tion, power plant development, and the communications and utility industries.
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134 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES FIGURE 3.12 Direct manufacturing, construction, and operations jobs supported by the 20 percent wind energy by 2030 report.
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EMERGING SECTORS 135 an energy-conscious and educated society. It is supported by a combination of educators, the energy industry, and public employers.
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136 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES Wind Education: Community Colleges and Universities There are many energy- and wind-related programs in community colleges.
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EMERGING SECTORS 137 with managerial training in an effort to better prepare students for a wide variety of careers in the wind industry. Courses range from design and construction to policy and atmospheric science.
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138 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES certificates with a focus on wind energy systems or renewable energy systems including wind (Windustry, 2012)
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EMERGING SECTORS 139 3.7 Industry, government, and educational and training institutions should work together to develop an interactive Wind Career Map such as the Solar Career Map to provide Web-based information about wind occupa tions. (Short Term)
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140 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES FIGURE 3.13 A flashed-steam power plant.
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EMERGING SECTORS 141 FIGURE 3.14 A binary power plant using an air-cooled condenser. When wet cooling is used, a cooling tower similar to one in a flash plant replaces the air cooler, requiring a source of water because all of the geothermal fluid is injected back into the reservoir.
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142 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES FIGURE 3.15 A typical geothermal power plant using air-cooled binary technology at the Casa Diablo field in California, with a generating capacity of about 30 MWe.
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EMERGING SECTORS 143 TABLE 3.8 Geothermal Capacity and Production as of 2009. Installed Capacity Power Produced Load Factor Electricity 3,048 MWe 16,603 GWh/yr 0.94 Installed Capacity Energy Supplied Direct usea 611.5 MWt 9,151.8 TJ/yr 2,542 GWh/yr Heat pumps 12,000 MWt 47,400 TJ/yr 13,167 GWh/yr a Exclusive of heat pumps.
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144 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES TABLE 3.10 Net Geothermal Electrical Generation, 2004-2010 (GWh)
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EMERGING SECTORS 145 FIGURE 3.16 Direct-use growth in the United States without heat pumps. SOURCE: Tony Boyd, Geo-Heat Center.
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146 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES TABLE 3.12 Projected Growth in Residential Geothermal Heat Pumps (quadrillion Btu per year)
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EMERGING SECTORS 147 by producers of air-sourced heat pumps and traditional air-conditioning units. The GHP sector has the largest marketing component of the geothermal industry.
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148 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES TABLE 3.14 Allocation of Professional Personnel with University Degrees to Geothermal Activities (Professional Person-Years of Effort)
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EMERGING SECTORS 149 a 5 percent probability of achieving 16,457 MWe. For undiscovered resources, the mean estimated power production potential is 30,033 MWe, with a 95 percent probability of achieving 7,917 MWe and a 5 percent probability of achieving 73,286 MWe (Williams et al., 2008)
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150 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES energy associated with oil and gas production or in geopressured resources, only Texas has an RPS.
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EMERGING SECTORS 151 engineers; HVAC technicians; food processing specialists; aquacul ture and horticulture specialists; managers; attorneys; regulatory and environmental consultants; accountants; computer technicians; resort managers; spa developers; researchers; and government employees who all play an important role in bringing geothermal energy online. (Jennejohn, 2010, p.
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152 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES TABLE 3.15 Jobs Involved in the Development of a 50-MWe Geothermal Electrical Plant.
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EMERGING SECTORS 153 TABLE 3.16 cont'd Job Title Description Number Employed B Geothermal Drilling Drilling Engineer Support on-site well drilling 2-3 Rig hands or "drill Operate geothermal drilling rig men" 15-20 Rig site manager Manage drilling operations 1-2 Mud logger Sample and analyze fluid and rock cuttings from the wellbore 2-4 Drilling fluids Ensure the continual flow of drilling fluids into and personnel out of the well 2-4 Cementing personnel Cement metal casings in place within the wellbore 6-10 Safety manager Ensure the safe operation and management of both the drill rig and employees 1 Welder Weld equipment at drill site 3 Estimated total 32-47 Job Title Description Number Employed C
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154 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES TABLE 3.16 cont'd Job Title Description Number Employed D
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EMERGING SECTORS 155 could add nearly 10,000 jobs, and additionally provide about 36,000 person-years of business in construction and manufacturing (WGA, 2006)
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156 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES TABLE 3.17 Estimated employment impact of geothermal industry growth, based on the EIA's 2012 Reference case.
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EMERGING SECTORS 157 techniques and skills used in the mining industry so that the geothermal industry can draw on trained mineral explorers. Traditionally trained petroleum engineers and hydrologists are not completely trained for the geothermal industry.
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158 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES Education and Training Holm (2011)
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EMERGING SECTORS 159 BOX 3.2 Truckee Meadows Community College The Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) in Reno, Nevada, was awarded a grant by the U.S.
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160 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES However, the game changer for geothermal energy will be the development of technology for EGS.
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EMERGING SECTORS 161 To be fully functional in the geothermal industry, many petroleum engi neers and hydrologists will require additional training in nonisothermal systems, heat transfer, and multiphase fluid flow. 3.27 The geothermal industry has significant difficulty in competing with the petroleum and mining industries for geoscience and engineering professionals due to the relatively attractive salaries and benefits offered by these other industries.
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162 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES 3.9 Community college instructors and guidance counselors should inform students that the skills delivered by the community college span across the oil and gas, geothermal, and mining industries.
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EMERGING SECTORS 163 CO2 emission reduction goals, have motivated a renewed emphasis on combining the emission reduction potential of CCS with CO2-EOR, into CCUS. CCUS Technology Overview and Market Trends CCUS is a suite of technologies designed to reduce CO2 emissions and simultaneously increase oil recovery.
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164 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES FIGURE 3.17 Schematic of the carbon dioxide capture and sequestration process.
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EMERGING SECTORS 165 FIGURE 3.19 Location and sequestration formation type for small-scale pilot injection tests supported by the U.S. DOE Regional Sequestration Partnerships.
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166 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES TABLE 3.18 Global Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage Projects in 2012.
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EMERGING SECTORS 167 FIGURE 3.20 Current options for sequestering CO2 in subsurface geological formations. SOURCE: Reprinted with permission from CO2CRC.
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168 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES Purchased CO2 Recycled Anthropogenic and/or Injected CO2 Natural Sources CO2 from Production Well Zone of Efficient Sweep Immobile Oil CO2 Dissolved (Sequestered)
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EMERGING SECTORS 169 FIGURE 3.22. Location of existing sources of CO2 and prospective sites for CO2-EOR and geological sequestration.
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170 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES monitoring; and site closure (as illustrated in Figure 3.23)
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EMERGING SECTORS 171 Possible site Probable site Appoved site Construction Injection Equalization Closure team) monitor (cume effort)
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172 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES Concrete actions that are under way to address workforce issues in the short term include: • More than a dozen universities are now providing sequestration classes as part of the upper division and graduate school curriculum; • Universities are now matriculating dozens of master of science and doc toral students whose research focuses on geological sequestration of CO2; • Major geosciences societies (e.g., Society of Petroleum Engineers, Ameri can Geophysical Union, American Chemical Society, American Asso ciation of Petroleum Geologists)
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EMERGING SECTORS 173 tained, the lack of a strong geosciences workforce could limit CCUS implementation. 3.38 It is very important to sustain support for graduate school research in CCUS.
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174 EMERGING WORKFORCE TRENDS IN THE U.S. ENERGY AND MINING INDUSTRIES Shared Recommendations 1-5 should be initiated as soon as possible, and they are ordered and labeled in terms of when they would be expected to become fully operational.
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EMERGING SECTORS 175 existing educational success stories, such as those with a focus on minority outreach (noted in Chapter 2)
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