The report found that employment figures in Australia’s geothermal industry are projected to reach 3,800 full-time equivalent jobs in 2020, rising to 9,500 by 2030 and almost doubling again to 17,300 by 2050. These figures do not include the complete supply chain.

The report also said that by 2050, geothermal energy could reduce Australia’s emissions by avoiding approximately 25 per cent of today’s electricity generation emissions.

The geothermal industry in Australia currently has almost 400 geothermal tenements nationwide and around $1.5 billion in work programs underway.

The report estimates that if just one per cent of the easily accessible geothermal energy was exploited, it could provide more than 26,000 times Australia’s annual energy consumption.

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“We have an opportunity to develop a massive, emissions–free energy source that can power Australia’s homes and businesses while growing jobs,” said WWF Program Leader for Sustainable Development Paul Toni.

Power to Change: Australia’s Geothermal Future is the first in a series of reports looking into the potential of renewable energy technologies to deliver clean power, employment and investment as Australia shifts to a low-carbon economy.

WWF and AGEA are calling on the Australian Government to support the renewable energy industry and help boost employment and clean power. They say that the Government’s planned Renewable Energy Target Scheme favours cheaper, existing technologies at the expense of emerging, break through ones like geothermal.

“The geothermal energy industry provides opportunities for workers to move from industries like coal, oil and gas, into clean energy jobs as much of the technology and expertise is transferable from one to the other,” said CEO of AGEA Susan Jeanes.

The findings of the report echo recent economic modelling by the Clean Energy Council, which predicted that the clean energy and energy efficiency industries will create more than 28,000 new jobs by 2020.

The release of the Australian WWF/AGEA report also coincided with the release of a separate study by the WWF that looked at green economic activities in Europe. It found that the green sector is overtaking polluting industries in terms of employment in Europe.

The report, Low carbon jobs for Europe, shows that at least 3.4 million European jobs are directly related to renewable energy, sustainable transport and energy efficient goods and services. WWF predicts that the low-carbon economy will continue to expand in the future, whereas employment in extractive and climate polluting industries will continue to decline.

“The study clearly points at the winners and provides evidence that climate-friendly policies and technologies make a positive contribution to the economy,” said Head of European Climate and Energy Policy at WWF Jason Anderson.

Available figures suggest that in Europe close to 400,000 people are employed in renewable energy activities, some 2.1 million in efficient transport, and over 900,000 in energy efficiency goods and services. All these areas are showing significant growth, with particular focus on wind power, solar photovoltaic, bioenergy, public transport and building sectors.

Leading European countries are Germany, Spain and Denmark for wind power, Germany and Spain for solar power.