SAN JOSE, Calif. - As the economy sheds jobs, community colleges are reporting a surge of unemployed workers enrolling in courses that offer training for "green-collar" jobs.
Students are learning how to install solar panels, repair wind turbines, produce biofuels, and do other work related to renewable energy.
"I think the opportunities in this field are going to be huge," said Rudy Gastelo, who left the construction industry two years ago.
To meet growing demand, two-year colleges are launching or expanding green job training with money from the federal stimulus package.
Students and schools are betting that President Obama's campaign to promote alternative energy and curb global warming will create millions of well-paying jobs that do not require a four-year degree.
But the steep economic downturn has not spared the green energy industry, which had been expanding rapidly before the financial crisis. Many renewable-power firms are canceling projects, laying off workers, or selling themselves to competitors because business has dried up.
"A lot of companies are not going to make it," said Ron Pernick, cofounder of the market research firm Clean Edge Inc.
Many newly trained workers are having trouble finding jobs, and some people worry schools could end up producing too many workers for too few jobs.
"Even in these areas with great potential, the number of actual positions is way down from where they could be," said Barry Sedlick, who chairs the California Green Collar Jobs Council.
But many college officials believe there will be strong demand for green-collar workers once the economy rebounds and governments move to limit greenhouse gas emissions and require more alternative energy.
The federal stimulus package sets aside tens of billions of dollars to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. It will also create thousands of jobs retrofitting government buildings and public housing to make them more energy-efficient.
"The recovery package will help move industry forward and offer a lot of opportunities for workers at all levels," said Mindy Feldbaum, at the National Institute for Work and Learning.
The renewable energy industry generated about 500,000 jobs and $43 billion revenue in the United States in 2007. The much broader energy-efficiency industry generated 8.6 million jobs and $1 trillion in revenue, according to the American Solar Energy Society. The study projected that the two sectors could employ 16 million to 37 million people by 2030, depending on government policy.
In Florida, Palm Beach Community College expects to enroll 200 students this fall - up from 20 last fall - in a new associate's degree program that focuses on alternative energy sources.
Associate dean Sam Freas is optimistic about green energy's long-term prospects, but he is careful to set realistic expectations among students. "They look at me and say, 'Can you guarantee me a job?' And the answer is, 'Absolutely not.' "
In Michigan, which has the nation's highest state unemployment rate, at 12 percent, Lansing Community College saw enrollment in its alternative energy program grow from 42 students in 2005 to 252 students in 2008.
Most new students are men who lost jobs in the auto industry, which makes them eligible for a state program that provides $10,000 for training.
"They see the field of alternative energy as the industry that's going to pick up where the automotive industry left off," said David Wilson, who coordinates the alternative energy program.