The Future of Green Manufacturing

Continuing the theme of our last post, Chicago Public Radio's Worldview included an interesting discussion today about the forecasts for green job growth in the Chicago/Midwest region (listen: http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Program_WV.aspx?episode=35502). Some salient points for the technology industry:

-Durable goods manufacturers are being replaced by renewable energy companies (wind turbines in Iowa for example), requiring new green tech skill sets (including more emphasis on software skills).

-As industry increasingly cuts back on in-house training, community colleges like Chicago's Wright College (http://wright.ccc.edu/department/etp/build.asp) are poised to become the training centers for tomorrow's "green collar" workforce, as green technology training programs are added to the curriculum.

From a more general perspective, some interesting points were also brought up about corporations' changing ideas about green technology, as well as the utility of overseas manufacturing (how this relates in a moment). On increasing corporate interest in green technology and sustainability efforts, it was noted that environmentally friendly practices are becoming an easily quantifiable value (i.e. carbon offsets, cap and trade programs, as well as waste reduction & materials recycling/reuse). As it becomes simpler to demonstrate clear economic benefits to green business practices and processes, executives are taking note.

Back to overseas manufacturing--some companies are finding that the cost of doing business overseas (especially from a logistical standpoint) is less cost-effective than it used to be, with the result being a trend toward bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. In addition to the economic benefits of job growth, this is also beneficial from an environmental standpoint--the less distance materials and goods have to travel to reach the end consumer, the smaller their carbon footprint. Again, as companies begin seeing postive returns on green investments, this may also create new jobs requiring the green technology skill sets discussed above.