According to Ecotech Institute’s Clean Jobs Index, a tool to compare states’ use and development of clean energy, there are more than one million job postings in the clean energy sector from July 1, 2013 through September 30, 2013. This shows a 54 percent increase in needed clean energy employees, evidence that the sector is rapidly growing and in need of experts.

Ecotech Institute launched the Clean Jobs Index in January 2013 to provide objective job information about the clean tech industry. The Index also looks at various sustainability factors such as alternative fueling stations, LEED projects and total energy consumption in all 50 states. The Clean Jobs Index defines a clean tech job as one where workers make their business more environmentally friendly, use fewer natural resources, or produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment.

To complement the increase in these clean energy job opportunities, 1,543 new alternative fueling stations opened across the United States since the second quarter 2013. Between the months of July and September, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Tennessee had the most alternative fueling stations per capita.

Highlights from the Clean Jobs Index, Q3 2013 include:

• Number of U.S. Clean Jobs Postings: 1,099,734 (a 54 percent increase from Q2 2013);
• New Alternative Fueling Stations (Since Q2 2013): 1,543;
• States With the Most Alternative Fueling Stations (Per Capita): Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Tennessee;
• In Q3, Ohio Moved From 24th in Energy Efficiency to 2nd in the Nation;
• The Most Energy Efficient States (in no particular order): California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington; and
• States With the Most Incentives for Sustainability and Renewables (in no particular order): California, Texas, Minnesota, Washington and Oregon *(Rhode Island added more incentives and rebates than any other state in Q3).

“This data shows a long-awaited boom in the clean tech industry, from the increases in alternative fueling options to a massive amount of clean job opportunities,” said Kyle Crider, Ecotech Institute’s Program Chair and Manager of Environmental Operations. “States now offer more sustainability and renewable incentives than we’ve ever seen before, which proves that they’re taking the power of the industry seriously. In the state of the current economy, over 1 million job opportunities is a truly incredible statistic. We’re proud that Ecotech is the only higher education institution out there devoted entirely to helping students become successful professionals in this rapidly expanding sector.”