In recent years, greenhouse gas emissions have been thrust into the spotlight as the world grapples with how to minimize rising global temperatures and diversify our energy systems. While progress is being made, much work is still to be done to prepare us for a more sustainable future. According to the 2025 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook from BloombergNEF and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), US CO2 emission equivalent was 0.5% higher in 2024 than in 2023, with industry among the top emitters.
Engineers within asset-intensive industries like oil & gas and chemicals are at the forefront of the energy transition and diversification, needed to help to build new clean energy technologies and make operational improvements to lessen energy usage, waste, and emissions. And yet, according to BCG, a third of engineering roles are unfulfilled each year. As skilled engineers retire and the workforce gap widens, the need for engineers with experience scaling green technologies and sustainability initiatives has become increasingly critical.
Technology companies, universities, and industry must work together to equip engineers and other personnel with new competencies and the real-world expertise needed to fuel the energy transition and enable the expansion to more energy sources.
For decades, a top priority for many engineers at asset-intensive companies was ensuring operations were running safely, efficiently and profitably. For example, engineers and operational maintenance teams are well-versed in using proven digital technologies to optimize refinery planning or improve plant performance, but the clean energy transition demands additional priorities that impact engineers’ daily workflows.
The global focus on environmental impact has spurred a mindset shift in personnel across asset-intensive industries, from the C-suite developing strategy to engineers maintaining critical equipment and operations. Today, they must balance profit, people, and the planet—often called the "triple bottom line." To do it, leaders are calling upon engineers and plant personnel to not only optimize and improve operations to meet financial metrics, but also environmental impact. Luckily, many of the digital solutions that are already used to optimize asset design, operations and maintenance lifecycles can also be used to help meet net zero goals.
Emissions management is a prime example. Process simulation software that engineers have been using for decades to model chemical processes can also track emissions, yet until recently, there wasn’t a need to spend time analyzing those emissions. Today, those same engineers are turning to process simulation to calculate scope one and two emissions in support of their company’s sustainability goals. In another example, organizations are discovering that digital twins and economic modeling can be used to select the best way to scale clean energy technologies.
This is where training and documentation, often on the part of the technology provider, is needed. Whether it’s educating engineers on new processes like carbon capture, or the basics of how to use new equipment like an electrolyzer for hydrogen production, new applications of known digital tools often require equipping talented engineers with different competencies.
To help engineers build those skills, technology providers are partnering with asset-intensive companies to offer specific courses on the real-world applications of digital tools used for sustainability projects. This ensures engineers and other users understand operational trade-offs, such as how the optimization of one piece of equipment could negatively impact waste or energy output of another system and ultimately accelerate net zero progress for their organization.
But beyond technical training, asset-intensive industries are learning strategies on how to track emissions and waste to fulfill new metrics and reporting needs, some of which is required by new regulations or policies. They’re turning to technology partners for guidance on how they can optimize, and find additional value, in technology that’s already embedded in their operations.
As important as it is to train seasoned engineers and leaders at asset-intensive companies, developing the next generation of engineers and technical users in universities today should also be a focus.
Universities like Oregon State offer unique curriculums, designed specifically to teach engineering students how to use digital technology that will have an impact on sustainability initiatives. Others are opening their doors to industry and technology companies, or hosting competitions, to develop innovative ways digital technologies can be applied to climate-related problems. By ensuring more students gain exposure and experience with real-world applications, we can help close the engineer talent gap and ensure they have an immediate impact on the clean energy transition once they reach the workforce.
Changing the world’s energy system to meet a low or no-carbon future is a monumental effort. Engineers have a uniquely important role to play in helping ensure new climate technologies and operational efficiencies have a scalable impact at their company and the surrounding communities. It’s all our responsibilities to help them rise to the challenge.
Paige Morse, Enterprise Director, Sustainability, Aspen Technology
