Fewer than 15% of coal power plant workers in China can easily shift to green jobs by 2060

One Earth

paper
A coal power worker needs to travel 194 (178–242) km on average to access a green job. Only 11%–14% of existing coal power workers will transition to green jobs by 2060.
Authors

Huihuang Wu

Junfeng Liu

Xiurong Hu

Gang He

Yuhan Zhou

Xian Wang

Ying Liu

Jianmin Ma

Shu Tao

Published

November 5, 2024

Paper

Fewer than 15% of coal power plant workers in China can easily shift to green jobs by 2060
Huihuang Wu, Junfeng Liu, Xiurong Hu, Gang He, Yuhan Zhou, Xian Wang, Ying Liu, Jianmin Ma, Shu Tao
One Earth (2024)
DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2024.10.006

Abstract

Phasing out coal is essential for climate mitigation but can result in job losses. Although growing literature has reported green job opportunities (e.g., solar technicians) as a potential solution to the displacement of coal sector workers, the extent to which green jobs are easily accessible, regarding co-location and skill requirements, remains unclear. Here, we explore this issue in the context of China’s coal phaseout toward the 2060 carbon neutrality target. Using a coal power plant retirement model of 3,765 coal power units, we find that coal power plant workers must travel long distances (178–242 km) to reach a green job site. When further considering job skill qualifications, in total, fewer than 15% of these workers can easily access green jobs. Postponing the coal phaseout might further exacerbate the job transition challenge. Upstream industries of the renewable energy sector (e.g., electrical machinery), which can be located closer to coal power plants and have better job skill matching, can help alleviate the challenging prospect.

Spatial relation and skill similarity between coal power plant workers and green jobs

Citation

BibTeX citation:
@article{wu2024,
  author = {Wu, Huihuang and Liu, Junfeng and Hu, Xiurong and He, Gang
    and Zhou, Yuhan and Wang, Xian and Liu, Ying and Ma, Jianmin and
    Tao, Shu},
  title = {Fewer Than 15\% of Coal Power Plant Workers in {China} Can
    Easily Shift to Green Jobs by 2060},
  journal = {One Earth},
  volume = {7},
  number = {11},
  pages = {1994-2007},
  date = {2024-11-05},
  url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259033222400530X},
  doi = {10.1016/j.oneear.2024.10.006},
  langid = {en}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
Wu, Huihuang, Junfeng Liu, Xiurong Hu, Gang He, Yuhan Zhou, Xian Wang, Ying Liu, Jianmin Ma, and Shu Tao. 2024. “Fewer Than 15% of Coal Power Plant Workers in China Can Easily Shift to Green Jobs by 2060.” One Earth 7 (11): 1994–2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2024.10.006.