Green jobs. Real employment effects of renewable energies in north-east Germany

Abstract: The very recent catastrophe in Fukushima Japan has led to new incentives for promoting electricity generation through renewable energies in Germany. In this article the economic implications of those incentives for one German federal state, namely Mecklenburg – Western Pomerania, are highlighted. By `diving´ into this region and by applying several different forecasting methods as well as questioning for different scenarios, I here argue, in contrary to of what is often claimed by politicians and environmentalists, that the shift from conventional to renewable energy carriers does not have too many positive economical effects and that it brings relatively few people into work in the next ten years. In the long term however, a more positive picture will show up and the costs will probably equal the gains.