The energy investment landscape at the global level is undergoing a significant transformation. Upstream oil and gas investment remains high largely driven by Middle Eastern and Asian national oil companies with recorded growth in capital flowing toward clean energy technologies.
In 2015, the investment ratio between clean power and conventional fossil fuel power was roughly 2:1. By 2024, this ratio reached 10:1, underscoring the profound increase in renewables such as solar and wind. This is in addition to nuclear power investment, which is rebounding, with 2024 spending approximately doubling the 2018 level. Fig. 1 highlights global investment in clean energy and fossil fuels from 2015 to 2024.
Beyond solar, wind, and nuclear power, there are emerging sectors like hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) attracting attention.
In the US, blue hydrogen (hydrogen produced with CCUS technology) is set to dominate new investment decisions, with numerous large-scale projects projected to reach final investment decision (FID) in 2025, according to a report from Wood Mackenzie. The global investment in CCUS virtually doubled in 2023 to $11.33 billion, quadrupling since 2020, although it represents only less than 1% of the cumulative energy transition investment. On the other hand, although facing challenges such as regulatory support and offtakers, green hydrogen (hydrogen produced from renewable electricity) is also advancing, with gigascale projects moving forward globally.
As investment flows into the industry and new sectors emerge, significant opportunities are created, not only for businesses but also for the workforce. For young professionals (YPs) and engineers alike, these shifting investment priorities signal a landscape of both opportunity and change. The transition toward renewables and low-carbon technologies is creating massive job growth as renewable energy-related employment reached 36.2 million in 2023 and is estimated to hit 40 million by 2050. As a result, this surge drives demand for new skills, including expertise in solar, wind, hydrogen, energy storage, data analytics, and project management.
While this transition brings new opportunities, it also presents significant challenges because as the energy industry evolves, some traditional jobs may decline. Consequently, this new changes in the energy sector creates a need for targeted retraining and adaptability, as skills mismatches and labor market frictions may emerge during the transition. Specifically, for YPs entering or exploring new opportunities in the energy sector, understanding these trends is critical. While the evolving landscape offers career opportunities, it also requires a proactive approach to skills development and a willingness to learn new technologies and roles as the industry continues its transformation.
Key Investment Trends: Data-Driven Overview
Global investment in the energy transition reached a record of $2.1 trillion in 2024, showing an 11% increase year-on-year. Electrified transport leads with $757 billion, renewable energy at $728 billion, and power grids reaching $390 billion. Despite this rapid growth, capital investment in sectors such as hydrogen, carbon capture, and clean shipping has reached only $155 billion in 2024, collectively making up only 7% of the total. In addition, the new technologies face challenges of commercial scalability and affordability.
In contrast, conventional oil and gas upstream investment is still substantial, however this segment is often overshadowed by the significant uprise in clean energy sectors. The current energy transition investment covers only 37% of the $5.6 trillion annual average needed from 2025 to 2030 to stay on track for net-zero 2050. For this trend, China is the dominant market, investing $818 billion in 2024, more than the combined total of the US, EU, and UK. The US investment was flat at $338 billion, whereas the EU and UK experienced decline.
For newly hired YPs or experienced professionals seeking opportunities in the energy sector, understanding these trends in the industry is key to both personal and career development.
Energy Transition Investment: What Are the Implications for Engineers?
This section provides career-focused insights for the energy transition investment. Specifically, it focuses on the industry skills in demand, emerging roles, workforce evolution, and opportunity.
In-Demand Industry Skills
Below are some in-demand skills in the energy industry today:
- Cross-disciplinary expertise is increasingly essential. For example, reservoir engineers are now expected to master CO2 plume modelling for CCUS projects, while electrical, mechanical, and civil engineers are needed across offshore wind, hydrogen, and grid-modernization sectors.
- Data analysis, digitalization, and AI proficiency are highly sought after, especially for optimizing energy systems, forecasting, and integrating renewables into complex grids. Engineers who can apply IoT, AI-based grid optimization, and cybersecurity are particularly valuable as digital transformation accelerates in the sector.
- Energy efficiency, project management, and sustainability consulting skills are also in high demand as companies strive to meet decarbonization and regulatory targets.
Emerging Roles
Several emerging roles in the energy industry today support the energy transition by combining technical expertise with strategic planning. These include:
Carbon strategist/carbon strategy manager: Leads the development and execution of carbon-reduction strategies, manages carbon accounting and reporting, and stays up to date on technical, market, and regulatory trends in carbon management. These professionals often bridge technical, policy, and business domains, supporting both project delivery and organizational sustainability goals.
Hydrogen project manager: Oversees the planning, execution, and integration of hydrogen production and infrastructure projects, requiring knowledge of both traditional process engineering and emerging hydrogen technologies.
Renewables integration specialist: Focuses on the technical and operational challenges of integrating renewable sources into existing energy systems, leveraging skills in grid management, data analytics, and power systems engineering.
Energy and sustainability strategist: Directs decarbonization and sustainability strategies for organizations, including energy master planning, policy evaluation, and technology assessment. This role requires both technical depth and the ability to coordinate multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders.
Workforce Evolution and Opportunity
The following points note the work evolution and opportunity as the energy industry experiences new shift in investment and business strategies.
The transition to net zero is expected to shift demand for skills in 1 in 5 jobs, with millions of workers needing reskilling or upskilling by 2030. Engineering roles—especially those at degree level and above—will be central to delivering low-carbon projects in sectors like offshore wind, CCUS, hydrogen, and energy efficiency.
The sector is experiencing rapid job creation, but also faces acute shortages in engineering, technical, and digital skills. This gap underscores the need for targeted education, training, and professional development to ensure engineers are equipped for evolving roles in the energy transition.
Engineers who combine technical depth and digital literacy and multidisciplinary agility will be positioned to thrive as the energy sector continues its transformation toward net zero.
Conclusion
Truly, the growing shift in the investment landscape in the energy sector is reshaping the industry and redefining what it means to be an engineer of the future. Due to these rapid growth and changes, for young professionals, staying ahead means actively tracking where the capital is flowing—whether into renewables, hydrogen, CCUS, or digital solutions—and proactively building the skills that will be in highest demand.
In today’s world, the energy transition is not only about technology; it is about people who are ready to adapt, learn, and lead. Therefore, by upskilling in highly sought-after areas such as cross-disciplinary engineering, data science, project management, and sustainability related roles, young and experienced professionals can position themselves at the forefront of this transformation.
