New businesses for small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the Renewable Energy Sources (RES)

Abstract

The development of renewable energy producers in rural areas creates new job opportunities for the countryside population. The decentralized manner of renewable energy in small cities is one of the ways how to meet the rural and small scale energy needs in a reliable, affordable and environmentally sustainable way. In 2010, the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague has finished the participation in the European IEE project RES COMPASS. In mutual cooperation, with seven partners from the Great Britain, France, Spain, Greek and Finland, the University has been involved in the extensive research concerning the impact of the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) on the future European labour market. The RES COMPASS project meets the objectives expressed by the New Skills for New Jobs Initiative of the EU and stressed also other initiatives, namely the Green Jobs Initiative, the UNEP initiative as well as the requirements of the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Organization of Employers in 2008. The RES COMPASS programme strategy was based on the implementation steps in three mutually supportive components: The first component Comparative analysis of the methods of identification of skill needs on the future labour market based on the renewable energy sources was concerned in the young generation of the today’s students. The second component Career Orientation test was developed as a tool for the potential young people thinking about a future career in the emerging area of renewable energy. The third component focused on the future business opportunities for small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the RES sector. The paper informs about findings of the third component New businesses for SMEs in the RES. Realistic possibilities of the development of SMEs appear to exist in the provision of more complex services reacting to (1) needs of more rapid renovation of the morally depreciated devices, (2) interest of inhabitants and producers in the installations of at least two different autonomous alternative energy sources, (3) creation of informal groups of users who will share various energy sources, (4) need to support the installation of energy devices with other measures – energy audits and projects.