“Green Jobs,” a phrase coined to describe employment that contributes to preserve or restore the environment. The phrase is being adopted by companies that are responding to the social demand for a cleaner economy. The term “green jobs” is appropriate for Brazil; according to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Brazil has approximately 2.6 million jobs in its formal labor market that meet the “green jobs” criteria, and this accounts for 6.7 percent of the workforce. Due to social pressure, the ILO office located in Brazil predicts that the number of jobs will increase significantly in the near future. Of the current new ‘green jobs' in Brazil, renewable energies account for almost 550,000 jobs; the renewable energy sector is one of Brazil's main industries that is projected to contribute to the country's growth. While biomass (sugar cane production) and hydroelectric power plants are the main “green” employers in Brazil, wind turbines are expected to be the leading job provider in the energy sector. “The wind power sector is made up of large projects that primarily offer formal employment,” Paulo Sérgio Muçouçah, coordinator of the ILO's decent work and green jobs program stated in Brazil. “The fact that workers are officially registered and guaranteed their rights makes it possible to classify their jobs as decent work,” he added. Mucoucah states the wind turbine industry creates sustainable, official work which is health for the economy. Wind power on the global scale has increased almost 32-fold in the past 15 years. According to Atlas of Brazil Wind Energy Potential, Brazilian winds could generate 330 gigawatts (GW) of power. In May this year, the winds had barely hit 1 GW (one billion watts). The Brazilian government has set a target goal of 12 GW by 2020. However, the Brazilian Wind Energy Association stated “We are hoping to almost double it and reach around 22 GW. This growth needs to continue in order to consolidate the national industry,” in comments attrcibuted to Elbia Melo, the executive president of Abeeólica. An estimated 13,000 jobs have been created in distributing and generation of electric power service and constructing the wind farms. “There are already three manufacturing plants established in Brazil and a number of companies have undertaken studies aimed at opening more plants,” added Muçouçah when asked about the future job market. The wind turbine plants are expected to require between 918 and 2,400 workers to produce one hours worth of work versus hydroelectric, which requires about 250. This will create more jobs and will not require addition expenses from the consumer. “The difference in the volume of labor does not affect the price of electricity. The extremely high costs of building hydroelectric power plants and turbines means that the end-consumer must pay for them,” said Muçouçah. Most the wind farms are being built in the Northeast, said to be one of the least developed regions in the country. In the federal government's last energy auction, wind power plants won half of the contracts, totaling almost 2 GW, offering an average price of less than 100 reals (58 dollars) per megawatt/hour, which is below the cost of hydroelectric power. This exploration in wind power as well as mass increase in Brazil's job market will challenge the government to continue to explore the energy market sector. BM
