Case study - Stuart
A young mechanical engineer from Kilmarnock has seen first-hand how demand for renewable energy is helping to create new jobs.
When Stuart McLaren started work with wind turbine manufacturer Proven Energy five years ago, the company was making four turbines a week. Today, the company produces between 20 and 30 each week, and has taken on an extra70 staff to cope with demand.
Stuart, 22, said: "It's amazing how quickly the company has expanded - the demand for turbines has gone through the roof. We're taking orders from across the UK and from companies in America and Australia too."
Stuart joined Proven Energy in 2003 as a mechanical engineer on the Modern Apprenticeship scheme.
Stuart explained: "I spent my high school work experience week in the engineering department at Kilmarnock College and I loved it. I really liked the idea of working in a high-tech industry, so I applied for the Modern Apprenticeship scheme and I was delighted when Proven Energy decided to take me on a couple of months after I left school.
"I spent the first couple of years of my apprenticeship working four days a week in the factory, helping to make parts for the turbines, and studying one day a week at Kilmarnock College. Eventually the factory got so busy that I ended up taking night classes instead so I could work full-time."
Today, Stuart is one of Proven Energy's three team leaders in the engineering department, and heads a team of 12 workers.
Stuart's team make wind turbine cores - coils of copper wire which sit between powerful magnets at the centre of the turbine blades and act to turn the motion of the blades into clean, green electricity.
He added: "I'm really happy to be working in a field which is leading the way in renewable energy. I like the challenge of leading a team in a busy factory and it's good to know that the work I'm doing is helping to slow down climate change."