ALPHEN AAN DEN RIJN, Netherlands (AP) — At first, working in the oil and gas industry was great, Jordi Zonneveld recalls. Near his home in the Netherlands, there was an oil and gas company that, back in 2005, was growing and hiring. Zonneveld knew nothing about its business, which was designing and building equipment used to separate oil and gas from the salty water they’re mixed with deep underground.
That was a far cry from what he had studied in college, aviation. But he was happy to get a job. At just 21, Zonneveld found himself working as a project engineer with customers and managing engineering teams.
It was heady and challenging. The company, Frames Group, in the city of Alphen aan den Rijn, did very well. Zonneveld was promoted every few years.
But in the oil and gas industry the year 2015 was a turning point for many people, and Zonneveld was one. The price of oil crashed. Major companies around the world halted or postponed large projects.
Sales at the Frames Group plummeted. The same year, the Paris climate agreement was signed, committing countries to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the same emissions produced by his industry. “The whole world is declaring to phase out fossil fuels,” Zonneveld said.
It wasn’t going to be immediate, “but we were relying on those fossil fuels 100%.” ______ EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of an occasional series of personal stories from the energy transition — the change away from a fossil-fuel based world that larg.