Framework to analyze the spatial distribution of the labor impacts of clean energy transitions

Highlights: • Costs and benefits of clean energy transitions are not distributed equally within a country. • Paper presents an analytical framework to examine the spatial distribution of labor impacts of clean energy transitions. • Labor impact of renewable energy deployment policies in India studied using the framework. • Policy-makers can use this framework to identify the location and magnitude of labor impacts. • Framework is generalizable, and can be applied to different regions and industries. This paper presents an analytical framework to study the spatial distribution of the labor impacts of clean energy transitions. While there exists optimism about the job creation potential of clean energy industries, just transitions literature has emphasized that the costs and benefits of energy transitions will not be distributed equally. Aggregate labor estimates hide the regional inequalities that might surface sub-nationally. We use the analytical framework to study India's power sector. Our results suggest that Indian government's 2022 target of 100 GW solar capacity will generate jobs primarily in western and southern parts of India as 60% of the total jobs will be located in the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. If solar capacity addition targets are accompanied by retirement of thermal capacity, net employment impact will be negative with job losses being concentrated in the coal-mining states located in eastern India. Policy-makers can use this framework to identify the sub-national regions – states, districts, and counties – that will experience job losses due to energy transitions and estimate the number of jobs or economic compensation required for the negatively impacted communities. This framework can be applied to other industries and regions as well.