Welcome to our weekly newsletter where we highlight environmental trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world.
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that → welcome → world
We hear so much about the energy transition and green jobs.
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We → hear → transition
We've already profiled geothermal drillers and EV mechanics.
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We → profile → drillers
This week:
- These green workers are already in demand
- The Big Picture: The Kelvin wave is coming
- Why are 3 trees planted upside down at Fredericton Botanic Garden?
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trees → come → Garden
Laura Tyrrell is an electrician apprentice at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C., who recently won a bursary from Electricity Human Resources Canada.
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who → win → Canada
When Laura Tyrrell was a teenager in Alberta, she sometimes accompanied her father on jobs wiring condos.
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she → accompany → condos
"I loved it," she recalled.
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she → love → it
"Going to work with him was fun."
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Going → go → him
Years later, after working in fields from carpentry to health care while raising three kids, she decided she needed a change.
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she → work → change
She realized she had always wanted to be an electrician and contacted the local union.
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she → realize → union
Before long, Tyrrell was an apprentice working on construction of the new Cowichan District Hospital on Vancouver Island, set to be the first all-electric hospital in B.C. She was working on things she never knew electricians did, such as off-site prefab construction and installation of equipment ranging from medical sterilization machines to rooftop solar panels.
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electricians → work → panels
She was so excited about the solar panels that she sent me photos as soon as I first got in touch with her.
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I → send → her
"That was a really neat part to be a part of," she recalled.
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she → recall → ?
Solar panels on the roof of the new Cowichan District Hospital in B.C. (Submitted by Laura Tyrrell)
She's currently doing some of the classroom work that’s mandatory to become an electrician at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, with the help of a bursary from Electricity Human Resources Canada (EHRC), a labour market intelligence organization for the electricity industry.
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that → submit → industry
According to a recent EHRC report, about 28,000 new employees will be needed nationwide in the electricity sector by 2028, equivalent to 25 per cent of the current labour force.
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employees → accord → force
Most of the growth in the past five years has been concentrated in renewable energy, but nearly half the sector's 34 core occupations will face labour shortages.
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occupations → concentrate → shortages
They range from power-line technicians who build, maintain and expand electrical transmission and distribution networks to electrical engineers responsible for things like grid planning and integration of renewable energy.
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who → range → energy
Hydro workers perform maintenance on power lines in Renfrew County, Ont., on July 8, 2024.
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workers → perform → July
Alex Stephens, director of programs at the Future Skills Centre, a federally funded workforce development think-tank, said most future green jobs are actually existing jobs that integrate sustainability.
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that → fund → sustainability
Electricians are probably the most in-demand, he added, and they're "absolutely essential" for the transition to greener technologies such as heat pumps, EVs and renewable energy.
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they → add → pumps
"In fact, those [electrician] shortages are probably at this point a significant, if not the most important, constraint … on reaching the goals down that sort of energy transition pathway."
What's behind the labour shortage?
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What → reach → shortage
Stephens said the workforce is aging, and a "narrowing of the pipeline of people" who are choosing to go into the trades.
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who → say → trades
He blames factors like perceptions that they're not well paid or not welcoming to certain groups, such as women.
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they → blame → women
In fact, the EHRC says the average hourly wage in the utilities sector was $55.43, working out to $115,000 a year, for a full-time worker, well above the Canadian average.
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wage → say → average
And the organization is trying to address the shortage of women with programs like the bursary awarded to Tyrell.
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organization → try → Tyrell
Another recipient this year was Jeniishaa Bhagudeva, an electrical engineering student at McMaster University in Hamilton, who recently completed an internship with Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator.
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who → complete → Operator
There, she worked on things like forecasting power demand and managing outages.
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she → work → outages
"I found that really interesting, since I really like solving problems," she recalled.
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she → find → problems
One barrier that the industry has recognized is the required interruption of work terms to do classroom work — something that Tyrell delayed for financial reasons until receiving the bursary.
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Tyrell → recognize → bursary
A new construction electrician program at Vancouver Community College is trying to address this by allowing the classroom training to be delivered part-time and online without work interruptions.
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training → try → interruptions
Construction Electrician students complete practical training at Vancouver Community College.
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students → complete → College
Brett Griffiths, dean of the college's school of trades, technology and design, said with all the EV charging and renewable energy projects in B.C., about 5,000 electrical job openings are expected in the next five years.
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openings → say → years
And in his province, he says there's no shortage of interest from students — in fact, there are long wait lists for training.
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he → say → training
Meanwhile, Tyrrell, who expects to graduate from her program in 2028, says she has so far found the industry very welcoming and she "can't wait to learn more.
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she → expect → more
"
"There's so much math in it and science and it's fun — you wire up a whole bunch of lights and turn them on.
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you → be → them
In our latest episode: Depending on who you ask, AI could usher in a green utopia — or the apocalypse.
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AI → depend → utopia
But tech leaders like NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang suggest it's all worth it, because AI can solve climate problems in the future.
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AI → suggest → future
So when it comes to emissions cuts, what’s AI done for us lately?
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AI → come → us
And what’s at stake for the climate as more and more chatbots come online?
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chatbots → ’ → climate
What On Earth? drops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday.
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…and 67 more, not listed.
The Aporia
