North Carolina’s hospitable climate for “clean energy” has produced greater than expected results in job creation and revenue growth, according to the “2014 North Carolina Clean Energy Industry Census” published recently by the NC Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA). The census since 2008 has measured the impact of North Carolina’s clean energy policies on employment, revenues, geographic presence, export activity and business climate.

According to the report, the clean energy industry has seen “approximately 15 percent annual increase in revenues generated since 2012,” and “significant job growth in 2014, now accounting for 22,995 full-time equivalent employees in North Carolina and more than 1,200 firms.”

Marked growth occurred in 2014 in North Carolina’s energy business sectors of building efficiency and energy storage, NCSEA says. Building efficiency and solar sectors together represent 59 percent of all firms — emerging as the dominant clean energy industry firms in the state, the report says.