Careers in renewable energy

If you are advising students who are interested in careers in renewable energy, the emerging jobs in the near-term will be in the private sector with government contractors, as well as directly with the Energy Department. The paragraph below is from an article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, about the Energy Dept struggling to fulfill President Obama's mandate.

"Most of Energy's stimulus spending will be in the form of grants and contracts--the administration of which will be a major challenge for an understaffed and neglected federal workforce. Years of outsourcing and staff cuts have left Energy ill-prepared to handle the onslaught of work and responsibility these programs will require. Recognizing this, Congress has urged the department to hire more federal workers."

For the full article: http://thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/the-energy-department-ready-to-reboot-the-country