Life cycle employment effect of geothermal power generation using an extended input–output model: the case of Japan

Abstract

The present paper evaluates the employment impact of introducing geothermal power generation on Japanese society. An extended input–output table is created for estimating not only direct employment but also the indirect effect associated with geothermal power generation. Our originality lies in the use of published financial statements data for estimating goods and services required for the newly formed sector of geothermal power generation. This assures reliability and transparency of the geothermal power generation input structure estimation. The estimated embodied employment intensity shows that the electricity demand for geothermal energy can generate employment of 0.89 person-years per GWh through the five life-cycle stages of resource survey, manufacturing, construction, operation and maintenance, and disposal. The employment created in the operation and maintenance stage accounts for 66% of the total, indicating that geothermal power generation can generate long-term employment opportunities in service sectors. On the other hand, a large portion of the total employment for both wind and PV power generation is temporary and created in industrial sectors at the manufacturing and construction stages. The present study reveals that there is a distinctive difference in terms of employment effect of geothermal in comparison with wind and PV power generation. It is further observed that 86% of the total employment is domestic to Japan, higher than the domestic ratios of wind and PV power generation.