Green Job Preparation Manual

by Rodney Ferguson

An Easy Lesson

With

Discussion

Preface

In this version I will read the card first and then follow with a brief commentary to clear up any points that may be difficult to understand.

INTRODUCTION

This presentation will help you prepare for a job in the fast growing green industry. It will provide the background and vocabulary you need to successfully interview for a green job. The class progresses from the history of environmentalism to the green business opportunities and jobs available today!

“Green, old school!”

• Environmentalism was the name given to the Green Movement before there was a Green Movement.

• A review of environmentalism and its influence are essential for understanding the Green Movement today.

Environmentalism Defined (1)

• Environmentalism is political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through:– changes to environmentally harmful human

activities;– through the adoption of forms of political,

economic, and social organization that are thought to be necessary for limiting human’s bad treatment of nature.;

Environmentalism defined (2)

• Environmentalism claims that living things other than humans, and the natural environment as a whole, are deserving of consideration in reasoning about the morality of political, economic, and social policies.

Two Sides of Environmentalism

• anthropocentric, or “human-centered”

• biocentric, or “life-centered.”

Anthropocentric, or “human-centered”

• This view focuses mainly on the negative effects that hurting the environment has on human beings and their interests

• It sees nonhuman nature as mechanical or “soulless”

• Nonhuman organisms are seen as only things to be used by humans.

Biocentric, or “life-centered.”

• It sees the entire environment, both living and often nonliving, as members of a single moral and ecological community.

1960s and ’70s Environmental Concerns

• Scientific and environmental knowledge become broader and better.

• Scientists, intellectuals, and activists became concerned about the Earth – its ability to maintain all life, including human life.

The Birth of “Green”

• This concern contributed to the growth of grassroots environmental activism in a number of countries.

• New environmental, nongovernmental agencies, and environmental (“green”) political parties were formed in a number of European countries.

• As political leaders started to understand environmental problems, governments in the early 1970s entered into agreements protecting the environment.

Groups of Environmentalists

• Anthropocentric groups, which included apocalyptic (survivalist) environmentalism, emancipatory environmentalism, and human-welfare ecology were focused primarily by a concern for human well-being.

• Biocentric groups, which included social ecology, deep ecology, the animal-rights/animal-liberation movements, and ecofeminism, were centrally concerned with the moral worth of nonhuman nature.

Environmentalism and Negativity

• In 1960s and early ’70s environmentalists thought that the earth’s future looked really dim.

• Many authors wrote that the earth’s ecosystem could not survive all of the bad things humans were doing to it.

• This so-called apocalyptic, or survivalist, literature encouraged

reluctant calls from some environmentalists for governments to control human activities which harmed the environment.

• One writer, Robert Heilbroner in a book entitled An Inquiry into the Human Prospect (1974), argued that human survival depended on humans giving up their freedom. Julian Simon and Herman Kahn in The Resourceful Earth (1984), said humans have the ability to find or to invent substitutes for resources that were in danger of being used up.

Apocalyptic versus Emancipation Environmentalism

• “Apocalyptic” environmentalists developed many ideas like: recycling, the use of alternative-energy technologies, the decentralization and democratization of economic and social planning, and the reorganization of major industrial sectors, including the agriculture and energy industries.

• “Emancipatory” environmentalism took a more positive approach. It promoted an ecological consciousness and an ethic of “stewardship” of the environment.

Human Welfare Ecology

Human-welfare ecology aims to enhance human life by creating a safe and clean environment. It is part of a broader concern with distributive justice. It reflects a tendency of citizens in advanced industrial societies to place more importance on “quality-of-life” issues than on traditional economic concerns.

Natural Systems

Some authors • argued that natural systems were all connected• encouraged productive processes that worked with

nature, not against it,• encouraged the use of organic and renewable resources

rather than synthetic/man-made products like plastics and chemical fertilizers,

• wanted to develop renewable and small-scale energy resources like wind and solar power, and

• promoted governmental policies that supported effective public transportation and energy efficiency.

Social Ecologists

• Social ecologists trace the causes of environmental problems to the existence of unjust, hierarchical relationships in human society

• They think large-scale social structures of modern capitalist states lead to injustice.

• Social ecologists want to create a society based decentralized small-scale communities and systems of production.

Deep Ecologists

• Deep ecologists claim that humans need to regain a “spiritual” relationship with nonhuman nature.

• By understanding the interconnectedness of all organisms—including humans—in the ecosphere and empathizing with nonhuman nature,

• They argue humans would develop an ecological consciousness and a sense of ecological solidarity.

• A deep ecologist, James Lovelock in Gaia : A New Look at Life on Earth (1979), said that the planet Earth is a single living, self-regulating entity capable of reestablishing an ecological equilibrium, even without the existence of human life.

Animal Rights

• Animal rights activists argue that the intrinsic value and the interconnectedness of nature is fundamental.

• Animal rights go beyond a concern with ill-treatment and cruelty to animals.

• Many activists demand an end to all forms of animal exploitation, including the use of animals in scientific and medical experiments, and as sources of entertainment in circuses, rodeos, and races, and as food.

Ecofeminists

• Ecofeminists assert that there is a connection between the destruction of nature by humans and the oppression of women by men.

• They oppose political theories and social practices in which both women and nature are treated as objects to be owned or controlled.

• Ecofeminists aim to establish a central role for women in the pursuit of an environmentally sound and socially just society.

Green Politics

• Green nongovernmental organizations and green political parties give political expression to the philosophy of environmentalism.

• Four goals of political ecology: 1)protection of the environment, 2) grassroots democracy, 3) social justice, and 4) nonviolence

Ecoterrorism

• A small number of environmental groups and individual activists are engaged in ecoterrorism.

• They view violence as a justified response to what they consider the violent treatment of nature by some interests, particularly the logging and mining industries, as well as, some animal experimenters.

International Green Movement

• The political goals of the contemporary green movement in the industrialized West focus on changing government policy and promoting environmental social values.

• In the developing world, environmentalism has been more closely involved in “emancipatory” politics and grassroots activism on issues such as poverty, and political and human rights, including the rights of women and indigenous peoples.

Some Green Initiatives

• Increase awareness of and sensitivity to environmental issues.

• Recycling• Green consumerism (also known as

“buying green”), • Establishment of alternative communities,

including self-sufficient farms, workers’ cooperatives, and cooperative-housing projects.

Green Political Parties

These parties were conceived of as a new kind of political organization that would:

• bring the influence of the grassroots environmental movement directly to bear on the machinery of government,

• make the environment a central concern of public policy, and

• cause the institutions of the state to be more democratic, transparent, and accountable.

Green Political Success

• By the late 1980s environmentalism had become a global as well as a national political force.

• Some environmental nongovernmental organizations (for example, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and the World Wildlife Fund) established a significant international presence, serving as campaign and information centers for their national partner organizations.

21st Century Green

• In the 21st century, the environmental movement is concerned with conservation, preservation, and pollution

• It is now also concerned with the environmental consequences of economic practices as diverse as tourism, trade, financial investment, and the conduct of war.

• Some environmental groups increasingly work with other emancipatory organizations, such as human rights and indigenous-peoples groups,

• Many work with corporations and other businesses.

President Obama and Green Jobs

• President Obama wants to domestically produce renewable energy and energy efficient products and components, such as, wind turbines and related components; solar energy products; fuel cells; advanced batteries and storage devices; biomass engines; geothermal equipment; ocean energy equipment; carbon capture and storage; and energy efficient appliances, products, parts, and components that are used to increase energy efficiency.

New Jobs

• Investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency manufacturing creates and retains permanent, good jobs.  In general, approximately 5 full-time component manufacturing jobs are created for every $1 million of investment in renewable energy systems.  

• Additionally, 3 to 4 building-material manufacturing jobs and 5 energy-efficient appliance manufacturing jobs are created for every $1 million invested in building energy efficiency.

• Over the long-term, retooled manufacturing facilities will have the capacity to scale up to meet increased demand for renewable energy and energy efficient technologies, generating further employment gains.

Past Experience• In 2006, U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries generated

8.5 million new direct and indirect jobs, $971 billion in industry revenue, and $150 billion in increased federal, state, and local government tax revenues. These industries include wind, solar, biomass, hydrogen fuel cells, green building, and energy efficiency products.

• In 2004 there were 10,179 firms nationwide with the technological potential to produce photovoltaic energy components, employing 714,183 workers. In the same year, 90 firms in 25 states were active in manufacturing wind turbine components, and 16,163 firms nationwide had the technological potential to produce wind energy components. These firms employed a total of 1,025,327 workers.

• Demand for solar and wind power will continue to expand over the next twenty years, and between 70 and 80 percent of potential new jobs created will be in the manufacturing sector.

• And new jobs aren’t the only benefits — in 2006, the use of Energy Star appliances saved an estimated 170 billion kWh of electricity and $14 billion on energy bills.

Renewable Energy Basics

• The United States currently relies heavily on coal, oil, and natural gas for its energy. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable, that is, they draw on resources that will eventually disappear, becoming too expensive or too environmentally damaging to retrieve. In contrast, renewable energy resources—such as wind and solar energy—are constantly replenished and will never run out.

Solar

• Most renewable energy comes either directly or indirectly from the sun. Sunlight, or solar energy, can be used directly for heating and lighting homes and other buildings, for generating electricity, and for hot water heating, solar cooling, and a variety of commercial and industrial uses.

Solar Energy Basics

• The sun's heat and light provide an great source of energy that can be used in many ways. There are many technologies that have been developed to take advantage of solar energy. These include concentrating solar power systems, passive solar heating and daylighting, photovoltaic systems, solar hot water, and solar process heat and space heating and cooling.

Wind

• The sun's heat also drives the winds, whose energy is captured with wind turbines.

• The winds and the sun's heat cause water to evaporate. When this water vapor turns into rain or snow and flows downhill into rivers or streams, its energy can be captured using hydropower.

Wind Turbines

• A wind energy system transforms the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical or electrical energy that can be harnessed for practical use.

• Wind energy is most commonly used for pumping water in rural or remote locations- the "farm windmill" still seen in many rural areas of the U.S. is a mechanical wind pumper - but it can also be used for many other purposes (grinding grain, sawing, etc.)

• Wind electric turbines generate electricity for homes and businesses and for sale to utilities.

Capacity Factor

• Capacity factor is one element in measuring the productivity of a wind turbine or any other power production facility.

• It compares the plant's actual production over a given period of time with the amount of power the plant would have produced if it had run at full capacity for the same amount of time.

•  A conventional utility power plant uses fuel, so it will normally run much of the time unless there are equipment problems or closed for maintenance. A capacity factor of 40% to 80% is typical for conventional plants.

Biomass

• Along with the rain and snow, sunlight causes plants to grow. The organic matter that makes up those plants is known as biomass. Biomass can be used to produce electricity, transportation fuels, or chemicals. The use of biomass for any of these purposes is called biomass energy.

Biomass Energy Basics

• We have used biomass energy or "bioenergy"—the energy from plants and plant-derived materials—since people began burning wood to cook food and keep warm.

Hydrogen

• Hydrogen can be found in many organic compounds, as well as water. It's the most abundant element on the Earth. But it doesn't occur naturally as a gas. It's always combined with other elements, such as with oxygen to make water.

• Once separated from another element, hydrogen can be burned as a fuel or converted into electricity.

Hydrogen Basics

• Fill vehicle fuel tanks with it instead of gasoline. Pipe it to homes to generate electricity onsite, while providing heating and hot water, instead of sending electricity through transmission lines.

• Hydrogen offers great opportunities because it emits only water vapor where it is used.

• Fuel cells that combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and heat offer the promise of making hydrogen an ideal universal fuel.

• It cannot be mined or harvested. But other energy sources can be used to make hydrogen, and then the hydrogen can be transported or stored for use where and when needed.

Geothermal Geothermal energy taps

the Earth's internal heat for a variety of uses including electric power production, and the heating and cooling of buildings.

Geothermal Energy Basics

• This heat can be drawn from several sources: hot water or steam reservoirs deep in the earth that are accessed by drilling or geothermal reservoirs located near the earth's surface

• A power station can use the hot water and steam from reservoirs to drive generators and produce electricity for its customers.

• Other applications apply the heat produced from geothermal directly to various uses in buildings, roads, agriculture, and industrial plants.

• Still others use the heat directly from the ground to provide heating and cooling in homes and other buildings.

Ocean Energy

• Oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface. • The ocean can produce thermal energy from the sun's

heat and mechanical energy from the tides and waves.

• As the world's largest solar collectors, oceans generate thermal energy from the sun.

• Even though the sun affects all ocean activity, the gravitational pull of the moon primarily drives the tides, and the wind powers the ocean waves.

Hydropower

• Flowing water creates energy that can be captured and turned into electricity. This is called hydroelectric power or hydropower.

• Hydropower is using water to power machinery or make electricity.• Water constantly moves through a vast global cycle, evaporating from

lakes and oceans, forming clouds, precipitating as rain or snow, then flowing back down to the ocean.

• The energy of this water cycle, which is driven by the sun, can be tapped to produce electricity or for mechanical tasks like grinding grain.

• Hydropower uses a fuel—water—that is not reduced or used up in the process. Because the water cycle is an endless, constantly recharging system, hydropower is considered a renewable energy.

Methane

• Methane is a gas that contains molecules of methane with one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen (CH4 ).

• It is the major component of the "natural" gas used in many homes for cooking and heating. It is odorless, colorless.

• Natural gas is a fossil fuel that was created eons ago by the breakdown of organic materials.

• It is often found in association with oil and coal.

Anaerobic Bacteria

• Anaerobic bacteria break down or "digest" organic material in the absence of oxygen and produce "biogas" as a waste product.

• Anaerobic decomposition occurs naturally in swamps, water-logged soils and rice fields, deep bodies of water, and in the digestive systems of termites and large animals.

• Anaerobic processes can be managed in a "digester" (an airtight tank) or a covered lagoon (a pond used to store manure) for waste treatment.

• The primary benefits of anaerobic digestion are nutrient recycling, waste treatment, and odor control. Except in very large systems, biogas production is a highly useful but secondary benefit.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles

• Today hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are a familiar sight on the road. They're everywhere, from small cars and SUVs to large trucks.

• But unlike a conventional vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle typically combines a gas-burning engine with an electric battery and electric motor. This combination offers greater fuel economy and fewer emissions compared to a conventional vehicle.

How HEV’s Work

• Hybrid electric vehicles are powered by two energy sources: an energy conversion unit, such as a combustion engine or fuel cell, and an energy storage device, such as batteries and/or ultracapacitors.

• The energy conversion unit may be powered with gasoline or an alternative fuel. The electric battery is recharged through an onboard generator or regenerative brake.

• A regenerative brake recaptures some of the kinetic energy that would otherwise be lost as heat when braking.

Energy Delivery and Storage Basics

• The demand for electricity is seldom constant over time. Many renewable resources — wind and solar power, for example — are intermittent, i.e., they are not available all of the time. Storing energy from the renewable source allows supply to more closely match demand.

• For instance, energy storage enables solar electricity to be used both day and night.

Distributed Energy (DE) Technologies

• Distributed energy (DE) technologies refers to a variety of small, modular power-generating technologies that can be combined with energy management and storage systems.

• They are used to improve the operation of the electricity delivery system, whether or not those technologies are connected to an electricity grid.

Environmental Racism Enviromental Justice

• Environmental racism refers to intentional or unintentional racial descrimination in the enforcement of environmental rules and regulations,

• the intentional or unintentional targeting of minority communities for the siting of polluting industries, or

• the exclusion of minority groups from public and private boards, commissions, and regulatory bodies.

• Environmental Justice is the movement to reverse environmental racism.

Green Retail List

Almost everything that can be sold can made greener. That means that there may be jobs available to make that happen. Here is a short list:

• Flowers and Gifts• Books, arts, crafts, designs• Body care, baby & child products,• Food packaging• Apparel & Accessories • Home and Interior products• Office supplies• Transport• Pet Products• Gardening supplies• Manufacturing• Cars

Agriculture

• There are many careers available in agriculture. You could work on agricultural pollution or weed and pest control. You could work in new fields like agroforestry, aquaculture, biodynamic farming, sustainable and/or community supported agriculture. Or, if you are into technology, biotechnology or the production of genetically modified foods.

Air Quality Jobs

You could become involved fighting the effects of acid rain, air pollution, industrial pollution, car pollution, and any other pollutant that harms the atmosphere.

Biotechnology

• Biotechnology is the use of biology to solve problems and make useful products. The most prominent area of biotechnology is the production of therapeutic proteins and other drugs through genetic engineering.

Brownfield Site

Brownfield site means real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. There are many jobs available to help clean up Brownfield sites.

Climate Change Defined

Climate change is the periodic modification of Earth’s climate brought about as a result of changes in the atmosphere as well as interactions between the atmosphere and various other geologic, chemical, biological, and geographic, and human produced factors within the Earth system.

Climate Change Jobs

• Human activities—especially fossil-fuel combustion since the Industrial Revolution—are responsible for steady increases in atmospheric concentrations of various greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). There are jobs aimed at reducing human production of greenhouse gases.

Community Planning

• Community or city planners develop long- and short-term plans for the use of land and the growth and revitalization of urban, suburban, and rural communities and the region in which they are located.

• They help local officials alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems by recommending locations for roads, schools, and other infrastructure and suggesting zoning regulations for private property.

Environmental Scientists and Hydrologists

• Environmental scientists and hydrologists use their knowledge of the physical makeup and history of the Earth to protect the environment;

• They study the properties of underground and surface waters, locate water and energy resources, predict water-related geologic hazards, and provide environmental site assessments and advice on indoor air quality and hazardous-waste-site remediation.

Ecotourism

• Ecotourism travel agents help travelers sort through vast amounts of information to help them make the best possible sustainable vacations. They offer advice on destinations and make arrangements for transportation, hotel accommodations, ecological study trips and tours for their clients. In addition, resorts and specialty travel groups use travel agents to promote travel packages to their clients.

Electricity Production Jobs

• This industry includes firms engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power. Electric plants harness highly pressurized steam, flowing water, or some force of nature to spin the blades of a turbine, which is attached to an electric generator. Coal is the dominant fuel used to generate steam in electric power plants, followed by nuclear power, natural gas, petroleum, and other energy sources. Hydroelectric generators are powered by the release of the tremendous pressure of water existing at the bottom of a dam or near a waterfall. Renewable sources of electric power—including geothermal, wind, and solar energy—are expanding rapidly, but only make up a small percentage of total generation.

Environmental Advocacy

• Advocacy, grantmaking, and civic organizations had 1.2 million wage and salary jobs in 2006, with 74 percent in civic, social, professional and similar organizations.

• Employers need individuals with strong communication and fundraising skills, because organizations must constantly mobilize public support for their activities.

• Social and demographic shifts should increase demand for services and spur job growth.

• A large number of job openings should result from employment growth and turnover, partially due to relatively low wages.

Environment Economists

• Economists study how society distributes resources, such as land, labor, raw materials, and machinery, to produce goods and services.

• They may conduct research, collect and analyze data, monitor economic trends, or develop forecasts.

• Economists research a wide variety of issues including energy costs, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, business cycles, taxes, and employment levels, among others.

Emergency Management Specialists

• Coordinate disaster response or crisis management activities,

• provide disaster preparedness training, and • prepare emergency plans and procedures for

natural disasters (for example, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes), wartime, or technological disasters (such as nuclear power plant emergencies or hazardous materials spills)

Job Health

Occupational health and safety specialists and technicians, also known as safety and health professionals or occupational health and safety inspectors, help prevent harm to workers, property, the environment, and the general public. For example, they might design safe work spaces, inspect machines, or test air quality. Some specialists and technicians work for governments, conducting safety inspections and imposing fines.

Forestry

• The Nation’s forests are a rich natural resource, providing beauty and tranquility, varied recreational benefits, and wood for commercial use.

• Managing and harvesting the forests and woodlands require many different kinds of workers.

• Forest and conservation workers help develop, maintain, and protect the forests by growing and planting new seedlings, fighting insects and diseases that attack trees, and helping to control soil erosion.

• Timber-cutting and logging workers harvest thousands of acres of forests each year for the timber that provides the raw material for countless consumer and industrial products.

Geography

• Surveyors and cartographers, are responsible for measuring and mapping the Earth’s surface.

• Surveyors establish official land, airspace, and water boundaries. They take measurements of construction and mineral sites.

• Other surveyors provide data about the shape, contour, location, elevation, or dimension of land or land features.

• Cartographers collect, analyze, interpret, and map geographic information from surveys and from data and photographs collected using airplanes and satellites.

Green Building

• A green building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as protecting occupant health; improving employee productivity; using energy, water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment.

Green Manufacturing

• Green manufacturing tries to prevent pollution and save energy through the discovery and development of new knowledge that reduces and/or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and application of industrial processes and manufactured products. 

TransportationTransportation is one the biggest areas for green jobs because it leads to so much

pollution. Here is a short list of problems and solutions which provide employment:: • Alternative Fuel Vehicles • Bicycles • Mass Transit • Non-motorized Transportation • Telecommuting • Transportation Alternatives • Transportation Pollution • Urban Ecology • Urban Issues • Light Pollution • Noise Pollution • Sprawl • Traffic • Urban Heat Island Effect • Urban Planning

Waste Management, Water Quality

• Water quality operators read, interpret, and adjust meters and gauges to make sure that plant equipment and processes are working properly. Operators control chemical-feeding devices, take samples of the water or wastewater, perform chemical and biological laboratory analyses, and adjust the amounts of chemicals, such as chlorine, in the water. They employ a variety of instruments to sample and measure water quality, and they use common hand and power tools to make repairs to valves, pumps, and other equipment.

Wildlife

Study the origins, behavior, diseases, genetics, and life processes of animals and wildlife. You may specialize in wildlife research and management, including the collection and analysis of biological data to determine the environmental effects of present and potential use of land and water areas.

The End

I hope you found this presentation informative and enjoyable.

Good Luck!!