Geoscience competence management and requirements to support the acceleration of the energy transition

Abstract

By ratifying the Paris Climate Agreement, The Netherlands has committed to an ambitious climate policy with the Dutch government aiming to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The transformation of the energy system to achieve sustainability, security, and affordability goals requires time, a long-term policy perspective and a renewed appreciation for technical competence development.

The value and understanding of the subsurface are essential to the future of sustainable energy generation. In this paper, a technical competence framework is presented, which has been developed to aid in managing and developing the technical workforce required to utilize that subsurface value. The core competences identified have been broken down into distinct levels of proficiency, including a description of proof points. This aims to support and guide the individual professional to allow carrying out a self-assessment and to establish their technical competence profile. Many of the core competences are valid across value chains (hydrocarbon exploration, production and storage, geothermal, and CO₂ and H₂-storage) supporting the deployment and rotation of technical staff across value chains. Within the volatile and uncertain conditions of the energy transition, a high professional standard and a high level of mobility allow for shifting focus to other business priorities and requirements rapidly; they aid to job security conditions and encourage personal development and professional growth. This paper aims to provide the Dutch professional geoscientific community recommendations on how to further improve the resilience of the skill pool.

A number of bottlenecks and challenges to enhance a thriving community of energy-geoscientists are identified, though mitigation measures are (partly) in place and will offer the opportunity to further strengthen the shared ambition to support and accelerate the energy transition, to continue substituting hydrocarbon-based energy with sustainable resources and to limit the net CO₂ output from the energy industry.