By Qing Huang August 11, 2026
🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to PhD students Qing Huang and Chenglin Li, and Professor Yangsiyu Lu!
We are delighted to share that Qing Huang, Chenglin Li, and Professor Yangsiyu Lu have published a research article in Communications Sustainability, a Nature Portfolio journal, titled “Fossil fuel occupations show high transferability across the wider economy.”
This study investigates how workers in fossil fuel industries can transition to new employment opportunities as the global economy moves toward decarbonization. Rather than focusing only on routine manual workers moving into green jobs, the research broadens the perspective to examine potential career pathways for all types of fossil fuel occupations across the wider economy.
Using detailed U.S. employment and occupational skill data, the study finds that 77.4% of fossil fuel occupations have high transferability to jobs outside fossil fuel industries, while another 11.3% can achieve similar transferability through reskilling. Promising destination sectors include accommodation and food services, administrative and waste management services, and professional, scientific and technical services. Although occupational transitions may involve wage losses for some workers, reskilling can reduce these risks and expand opportunities for higher-paying jobs. The findings highlight the importance of looking beyond a simple “dirty-to-green” transition and developing broader, economy-wide pathways to support workers during the energy transition.
👏👏👏 We extend our warmest congratulations to Qing, Chenglin and Professor Lu on this remarkable achievement!
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