The “green collar” industry is helping to create jobs in Las Vegas and throughout the State of Nevada.

A recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that Nevada’s clean-energy economy increased faster than other sectors between 1998 and 2007. During that time, the state’s clean-energy industries accounted for a 28.8 percent increase in employment to 3,641 jobs, compared to 26.5 percent for all jobs.

According to an article by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Pew report classifies clean-energy as renewable power, energy efficiency, environmentally-friendly production, conservation and pollution mitigation, training and support.

“That 28 percent growth rate is not insignificant,” Dan Geary, Nevada spokesman for the Pew Environmental Group, said. “I think the sky is the limit. The West is going to continue to grow and to need more and more power.”

Officials note that Nevada is poised for success in the green industry because it benefits from some of the country’s best solar energy and geothermal energy, which comes from hot underground water and steam. The state requires NV Energy, a leading energy provider, to obtain increasing amounts of its power from renewable resources, such as solar and wind power and provide tax incentives to build utility-scale solar power plants.

Some examples of clean-energy projects in Nevada include Boulder City’s Nevada Solar One, a 64-megawatt, solar thermal power plant that provides power to NV Energy; a 14-megawatt array of solar panels at Nellis Air Force Base; Sempra Generation’s planned 48-megawatt addition to 10 megawatts of solar panels at Boulder City; geothermal power plants throughout Northern Nevada and Power Efficiency Corp., a 20-worker company that manufactures systems for providing the efficiency of electric motors for elevators, rock crushing and construction conveyor belts.