3 Green Engineering Jobs in Emerging Markets

The following is a guest post by Ezra Drissman of GreenCareersGuide

Everyone has been affected by this economy. Even with all the talk about green careers, all career fields are struggling. Yet one cross section of the job market is a step ahead of others: engineers.

People with engineering degrees may have the easiest time switching over their field to green careers. The popularity is growing partly because of government rebates and partly because of the forward thinking of engineers.

Some of the most promising engineering markets are a direct result of the greening of jobs:

Smart Grid Engineer:
Smart grid engineers monitor the electric power infrastructure and delivery system. When issues arise, the engineers are the ones who take care of it. There are many complex problems that can come up in a power system, and they need the expertise of engineers to fix them.

There is a lot of knowledge required to become a smart grid engineer. You can become eligible through a vast amount of job experience and reaching Journeyman status, or by gaining a Master's degree in engineering or a similar subject. If you can get an apprenticeship at an electric power company, and learn about the system as you work your way through school, you will place yourself in a good position for promotion to Engineer status.

Thermal Engineer:
In a practical work environment, the duties of a thermal engineer may include: design of various types of heaters, from air and water line heaters to applications like freeze protection and temperature control; thermal analysis for optimizing use of power; heat-related safety studies; simulations and predictions.

The work of a thermal engineer contributes greatly to worldwide efforts to find answers to questions having to do with renewable energy. For this reason, the job of a thermal engineer is on top of the green careers list.

Energy Engineer:
Since the population and demand are still growing, an energy crisis could be looming. That's why energy engineers will soon be in demand. Energy engineering professionals can look into where we get our energy, how to produce it, and how to use it, allowing us to increase efficiency and reduce damage caused by our need for power. As more and more governments, companies and organizations realize that they need to work on their energy use and production, more energy engineers are going to be needed.

With the popularity of going green continuously growing, the need for green engineers will continue to grow as well. If you are an engineer looking to change directions, than make sure to look green.