Impacts of employment in power generation on renewable-based energy systems in Japan— Analysis using an energy system model

ABSTRACT Renewable energy technologies play an important role in the future energy systems, not only to realize a low-carbon society, but also to provide socioeconomic benefits such as creating employment opportunities and revitalizing local economies. This study considers the impact of employment in rural power plants as a socioeconomic benefit and analyzes the transition to a low-carbon energy system using a multi-regional MARKet ALlocation (MARKAL) model. The benefit is monetized in order to incorporate it into a cost minimization objective function, and we focus on the impact of the differences in the value on the Japanese energy system and employment. Our results suggest that when considering employment effects of rural power plants, renewable power generation will increase up to 350 TWh, mainly biomass and solar photovoltaic, in 2030. Total employment associated with power generation facilities in rural areas over the model period (45 y) will increase by up to 2.28 million person-year, and biomass power generation, in particular, can have a significant role in the revitalization of local economies owing to the large job creation effect during its operation and maintenance phase.