North Carolina now has a total of 14,800 jobs in the clean-energy sector. That is an 18 percent increase over the past year, according to a green jobs census released November 10 by the N.C Sustainable Energy Association.
More than 1,000 businesses and organizations in the state are involved in the business of clean energy. Wake County leads with 396 green businesses.  Mecklenburg and Buncombe counties each have more than 200.
The association defines a green job as one in which the worker allocates at least half of his or her time to renewable energy or energy efficiency, or a position that generates at least 50 percent of revenue from renewable or efficient energy.