Looking at a green career: I should be fine right? by Tony Green

At a choice of career paths

Here I am between positions again. This time I am going to fight to begin a career in something I am passionate about instead of slithering back to work on the first lousy employment offer I can get.

Assuming the cash reserves do not run out my goal of landing a green job which everyone is saying is going to drive the new economy is still alive.

Am I fooling myself? The writings of the research professionals reiterate I am not. In the just released Clean Tech job trends for 2010 the authors report the top five sectors for Clean Job activity are in no particular order: Solar, Biofuel, Smart Grid, Wind, and finally Advanced transportation/vehicles.

I looked at my resume and reflected on my work with epoxy resins used in wind turbine blades and advanced vehicles i.e. Electric vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles, and Plug-in vehicles.I also observed many of the folks in the solar industry came from the semiconductor sector as the technology to manufacture a Photo-Voltaic (PV) cell is very similar to producing an integrated chip. Another review of my work history includes over 5 years experience working as a Product engineer/Application engineer with Semiconductor OEM's manufacturers.    

Biofuel is the only one which is not covered. Though I do not claim experience in biofuel I do hold an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering. Would you think that would provide enough training to figure it out?

Furthermore, when the area where clean tech are predicted to be in the most demand not to my surprise the San Francisco Bay area was at the top of the list. I have heard there are times where you need to move where the jobs are. In my case, I have lived here for over 10 years.    

So since I can work in all five top Clean Job growth areas and live in an area which boosts the most clean job opportunities what I worried about?  In short I am concerned about everything. All of "resume bullets" are wonderful. But without something which makes money to pay bills it does not do much good. I hope things pick up like everyone says they will. The optimist in me tells me with some marketing, networking and a modest recovery I can make the world see what an asset I would be to any organization.

Professionally I should be fine, right? If not, please let me know because I'll need to derive another plan and fast.

What was that about a Renewable Energy Standard (R.E.S.) by Tony Green

Currently in the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) advocates the implementation a national Renewable Energy Standard. (R.E.S.) This is intended to primarily ensure demand to drive growth in the wind turbine industry.  In recent times wind installations have slowed down because of the credit crunch and economic climate. In spite of recession a large amount of development in the sector is now underway.

Despite a national RES not being in existence the RES concept has moved forward. Thirty states opted to implement a required RES while two more states utilize voluntary renewable standards.

An RPS requires electric utilities and other retail electric providers to supply a specified minimum amount of customer load with electricity from eligible renewable energy sources. The goal of an RPS is to stimulate market and technology development, in due course allowing cleaner forms of energy will be economically competitive with conventional forms of electric power.

The benefits of an RES include environmental improvement (e.g., avoided air pollution, global climate change mitigation, waste reduction, habitat preservation, conservation of valuable natural resources), increased diversity and security of energy supply.  Furthermore, local economic development resulting from new jobs, taxes, and revenue associated with new renewable capacity and provides a clear and long-term target for renewable energy generation can increase investors' and developers' confidence in the prospects for alternative energy.

Wind energy seems to be making significant progress in regards to fulfilling its potential as an energy source. Wouldn’t it be sad to lose all of the momentum generated by the advances in technology? If you do not believe in the importance of a RES please think again.

No more regional business? by Tony Green

The first week in a new position is typically spent getting used to new co-workers, systems, and processes.  But there are times where you encounter something which makes to think.

I was reviewing the companies’ brochures and I read a statement which stated in their view in the future regional businesses would be a thing of the past. The idea was due to the Internet altering the method products are selected regional marketplaces will be eliminated and transformed into one large global market.

The company focused on providing growth consulting solutions globally so this seemed quite logical. On a deeper level, my initial feeling was customers, who are on a local and provincial basis have requirements which are relevant to their locality and would be most attracted to a customized local offering.

In a previous position I came from a regional company who wanted to become global by expanding their offerings. I remember many of the challenges I faced trying to create a market plan to expand our offerings and being met by resistance due to the fact my methods failed to be agree with their regional perspective.

Over time the actuality became to clear to me management was not ready to become global since the management could not stop looking at global markets from its local viewpoint.

The concept of one all encompassing international market would be reality if every person on earth lived in one location with identical way of filling their needs. The Internet allows communication and dialog across the different people and individuals but the medium does not allow everyone to be the same even if a requirement to market to smaller groups existed.  

What if they are right and regional businesses became a thing of the past? In that case, the result would be lot of companies with cloudy futures. For now I will need to let their futures work themselves out. I have a job to learn.

This too will pass by Tony Green

The scenes of the oil soaked beaches in the Gulf, fair to say, left an indelible impression on everyone. British Petroleum (BP), the operator of the rig which exploded, has taken a huge hit in its public relations. Every media outlet had taken turns, especially CNN to, bash BP at every opportunity. BP had pledged to pay for the entire cleanup and well as compensate those whose lives were affected so drastically by the spill as well it should.

The fact is the oil industry should boast some extra cash in its coffers. The oil sector as a whole has recorded revenues and profits over the last 10 years. According to a money.cnn article the top two companies of the Fortune 500 for 2008 happened to be oil companies which totaled in profits of over 78 billion dollars.

A CRS report to Congress as of early 2008 stated the oil industry, in general, and its member companies continued to generate high profits since 2004. For example, by most familiar comparisons, the $9.92 billion profit earned by Exxon Mobil Corp. in just three months in the second quarter of 2005 is almost unimaginable.

On the topic of Exxon back in time the spilling of 11 million gallons of crude oil ( 257,000 barrels) of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska was the largest spill prior to April’s explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

Exxon’s status at the time of the spill the company was routinely posting strong revenues and profits. BP likewise also exhibited strong revenue and profit numbers.

Moreover, Exxon made high profits even in the aftermath of the most expensive oil spill in history. They made $3.8 billion profit in 1989 and $5 billion in 1990. And this occurred while Exxon disputed cleanup costs nearly every step of the way.


In short, Exxon, BP, and the oil industry are doing fine and I expect this will not change when once assesses the facts.

Consumption of oil is all about demand and the economy. We need oil for electricity and transportation. Alternative energy will alleviate but a major impact will not be any time before 2050. The financial market in general goes up and down and will not be down forever.

That is why if I happened to be a BP stockholder I would worry much more about the damage the environment than the Value of their investment. If history says anything about this spill, for BP similar to Exxon twenty years before, this too will pass.