Employment Life Cycle Analysis of Geothermal Power Generation Using an Extended Input-Output Model

Abstract

Increasing attention has been paid to geothermal power generation in particularly after The Great East Japan Earthquake. However, up till now, socio-economic impacts of geothermal power generation have not been thoroughly analyzed in Japan. The objective of the present study is to analyze employment created over the entire life cycle of geothermal power generation (i.e. resource survey, equipment production, plant construction, operation and maintenance), and clarify the characteristics compared to wind and solar photovoltaic power generation. An extended input-output table, which was constructed by disaggregating the existing sectors of the 2005 Input-Output Table for Japan, was developed and used for the analysis. Employment created over the life cycle of geothermal power generation was estimated to be 0.81 person-year per GWh. Employment at the operation and maintenance stage accounted for 65% of the total employment. That is, geothermal power generation can constantly produce employment over the life cycle, which is a different characteristic from wind and solar photovoltaic power generation. Other interesting characteristic is that more employment is produced in service industry sectors such as Repair of machine, Wholesale trade, Other business services than in manufacturing and construction industry sectors.