By 2050 the United States can shift energy sources completely off oil, coal and nuclear, save 5 trillion dollars and support a 158 percent bigger economy, says Amory Lovins, founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, in his new book, Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era.

At the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA. in October, Lovins predicted that there will be an explosive growth of reliable, renewable energy sources such as wind and photovoltaics. “Renewable energy production has been going up 65 percent a year for a decade,” Lovins said.

Energy savings by retrofitting buildings and industry redesign will result in “snowballing energy savings.” He predicts that cars made of “slippery,” ultra-light material with electric propulsion will reach an average of 125-240 miles per gallon equivalent.

“Efficient energy use and clean energy production are the foundations of a market-based, cost-effective pathway for American businesses to out-innovate competitors, vitalize the economy, boost exports, and ultimately, create jobs,” according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, a think tank that conducts research and analysis to drive the efficient and restorative use of resources.

For this transition, the United States will need energy efficiency builders, solar power installers, wind turbine fabricators and urban planners. These and many more green jobs will be created by this shift to a life-sustaining economy.

Energy efficiency builders - Building new buildings and retrofitting old ones to be safe and energy efficient will require skilled architects, engineers and a workforce of construction workers trained in energy efficiency and sustainable materials. The United States now has 43,000 professionals certified for green building through LEED. That number is growing and will continue to grow with the shift to more energy efficient buildings. Houston is a leading U.S. city in building new energy efficient buildings and retrofitting older buildings for energy efficiency. A 2010 study found that Houston can expect a six-fold increase in the number of LEED certified buildings within three years and that means more green jobs.

Solar power installers - Amory Lovins says solar cells will be cost effective by the time they are built. “Installing photovoltaics on 3 percent of U.S. structures can replace all coal,” he says. Constructing and installing solar power systems currently accounts for almost 800,000 jobs around the world. It’s estimated that in this country there are about 25,000 people employed in solar manufacturing and 52,000 in installation. The number of these jobs will grow as solar is used for electricity instead of oil, coal or nuclear. This is an untapped area of business growth in Texas, the top state in the country for electricity use, where the sun shines much of the time.

Wind turbine fabricators - Wind is the fastest-growing renewable energy source, and Texas is No.1 in wind production.Worldwide, 300,000 people are employed in wind energy production. Wind turbines are made of mostly metal. A wide variety of American manufacturers, including autoworkers, could shift to wind turbine fabrication and make new use of their skills. Currently the wind industry employs about 50,000 people in the United States, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Urban Planners - Reducing U.S. fossil fuel consumption requires solutions to urban sprawl, increasing mass transit availability and encouraging people to walk or bicycle rather than drive their cars. Urban and regional planners will be needed to make this transition to walkable communities and hubs of activity that facility this new way of living. In Houston, there is a waiting list for apartments on the light rail transit line.

What One Company Can Do
RRE Austin Solar, LLC is building a 60 megawatt (MW) solar farm in Pflugerville, Texas, a suburb of Austin, that can provide electricity to 40,000 homes with the potential for expanding to more than 90 MW. The company’s economic impact study shows that the project will provide 650 construction jobs over the two-year construction phase, and 24 architectural, engineering, legal and financial jobs. Eleven longer term jobs will be created for operations and maintenance.

But that’s not all. Michael Lumbley, RRE business development manager, says the company is creating a business development park as an incubator for new companies to hatch their innovative ideas for cleaner, efficient technology. “We are of the opinion that the industry is a single entity and we are the moving parts,” Lumbley says. “We want to share all the technology and information we can.”

To create the new energy technology incubator, RRE worked with the City of Austin and the local Pflugerville officials who want the city to become the hub of emerging technologies. They see the business development park as a good way to bring high skill-set jobs to the city.

RRE also collaborated with the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC), the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) to have a substation for bringing electricity to the grid. Companies that are developing new ways of providing electricity need to be able to test their product for Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification before going online to serve consumers. RRE’s substation will be available for such testing.

Under the wing of RRE, fledgling companies developing cleaner, energy efficient technologies will be able to take advantage of tax benefits RRE has negotiated with the State of Texas. “State Representative Mark Stroma submitted legislation to take all of the tax incentives we secured and carry them over to green technology companies coming into incubator their start,” Lumbley says.

The new business development means more green jobs for Texas citizens. The economic impact study for the RRE business development park forecasts that over a 10 year period the project will create 1,800 jobs that provide employment for one year (1,800 job-years) for Texas workers, paying an estimated $114 million in labor and wages.

Labor Unions and Environmental Organizations Unite for Greener, Safer Jobs
To make greener, safer jobs a priority in rebuilding the economy, the BlueGreen Alliance brings labor unions and environmental organizations together for a stronger voice speaking out on these issues. The alliance has created Jobs21 a nationwide campaign that calls for revitalizing the American economy by creating the millions of jobs lost during the recession, by protecting the environment, by securing our energy future, and by ensuring that the U.S. leads the 21st century global economy.

“Part of the reason for the BlueGreen Alliance is that the environmentalists aren’t winning and the labor unions aren’t winning either,” says Charlotte Brody, director of Chemicals, Public Health and Green Chemistry for the alliance. “We’re getting together to increase power.”

The Jobs21 project will encourage the development of green jobs and investment in training. “Investment in the American people will pay back when we get out of this deep, horrible, painful recession, just like we did the last time.”

The United States is poised for the bold business solutions needed to shift the economy into a new energy era. Without the leadership or support of the federal government, the country is moving toward a life-sustaining economy powered by flameless, plentiful energy sources and people working in green jobs. American innovation and collaboration on many levels is reinventing fire.