Climate Action

There is no doubt that the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are changing our living environment. Climate change is in our hands. We need to both work on limiting it as much as we can (mitigation), but we will also have to learn to adapt to new circumstances. TU Delft will harness its innovative powers to support the world-wide transition to non-fossil resources, and adaptation of the living environment to the consequences of global warming.

The problem is complex and urgent – but we have no other choice than to be optimistic and use all of our capacity to face the challenge, through our education programs and our research.

For more information, see:

In the Climate Action research programme, we start from four themes we consider to be paramount for future Climate Action:

The TU Delft vision on Climate Action is deeply founded in preceding decades of university wide climate action research. The goal of the Climate action research programme is to build on current strengths and identify the areas where there is a need to strengthen our capacities to keep up our (inter)national reputation as climate action university.

Climate Action News

09 September 2021

High water Limburg summer 2021 more drastic than river floods in 1993 and 1995

High water Limburg summer 2021 more drastic than river floods in 1993 and 1995

The heavy precipitation along with the high water of July 2021 in the Netherlands and surrounding countries was an extreme and exceptional event with major social consequences in Limburg. Commissioned by the Expertise Network for Water Safety (ENW), a broad consortium of knowledge institutions, led by Delft University of Technology and Deltares, has now made an initial analysis of the available information on a range of topics.

18 August 2021

Emma was in Delft while her parental home was flooded

Emma was in Delft while her parental home was flooded

When waves batter the coast, energy is generated. Researchers Branko Šavija and Yading Xu from TU Delft want to capture that by using a special type of concrete to create an alternative energy source.

21 June 2021

Broad support for ambitious climate policy if four conditions are met

Broad support for ambitious climate policy if four conditions are met

Onderzoekers stelden ruim 10.000 Nederlanders in staat de overheid te adviseren over klimaatbeleid. Het eindrapport is nu online.

17 June 2021

Sand on the horizon

Sand on the horizon

It’s a decade since the creation of the Sand Motor, an artificial sand bank off the North Sea coast. What happens to a natural system following human intervention on such a large scale? That question has been the focus of professor of Coastal Engineering Stefan Aarninkhof’s research for the last ten years. The results, he hopes, will pave the way to a full-scale experimental climate lab.

17 May 2021

TU Delft develops helpful cost guidelines for carbon capture

TU Delft develops helpful cost guidelines for carbon capture

Het afvangen en opslaan van CO2 is een van de vele technologieën die nodig zijn om klimaatverandering tegen te gaan. De technologie is beschikbaar en wordt al in diverse projecten toegepast, maar nog niet op wereldwijde schaal toegepast. Het gebrek aan kennis over de kosten van CO2-afvang en -opslag (CCS) kan ertoe leiden dat investeerders zich terugtrekken. Een wereldwijd consortium van twaalf onderzoekers op het gebied van CCS, onder leiding van Andrea Ramirez van de TU Delft, heeft samengewerkt aan een uitgebreide whitepaper. Het whitepaper helpt te begrijpen hoe de kosten van projecten voor CO2-afvang en -opslag correct kunnen worden geraamd.


Climate Action News

14 June 2024

Fading boundary between farmers and tigers

Fading boundary between farmers and tigers

The geothermal energy well at TU Delft campus will soon start heating various buildings on campus and in the city of Delft. But it provides insufficient heat in winter, and excessive heat in summer. Adding underground seasonal storage allows surplus summer heat to be put to good use in winter. Martin Bloemendal and his team develop the means to make integration of such an underground seasonal buffer possible at a large scale.

06 June 2024

Understanding Extreme Weather Phenomena: PHARA's 3D Radar Project's first official Summit

Understanding Extreme Weather Phenomena: PHARA's 3D Radar Project's first official Summit

Under the name PHARA, a collaborative team of scientists and engineers aim to develop a pioneering phased array weather radar – first of its kind in Europe and one of the first worldwide. This joint effort TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, TNO, Robin Radar, Astron, KNMI, and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, officially kicked off with a summit held on May 30.

14 May 2024

Untapping the hidden resources

13 May 2024

Revolutionising deconstruction: A robot for sustainable material recovery

Revolutionising deconstruction: A robot for sustainable material recovery

In response to the need for sustainable construction practices, an international group of researchers has secured a HORIZON Europe grant. They will develop a groundbreaking digitalized, autonomous, and intelligent identification system, including a robot. This innovative technology aims to revolutionize the construction industry by efficiently identifying and extracting reusable materials, products and building components in end-of-life buildings.

26 April 2024

Measuring 1 million snowflakes for better weather forecasts

Measuring 1 million snowflakes for better weather forecasts

Taking the ski lift to work. That's not something many people can say. For postdoc and TU Delft alumnus Koen Muller, this has been a reality for almost 1 year. Next to a ski slope near Davos, he is building a unique measurement setup with which he wants to collect data on snowstorms to gain more insight into the interaction of snowflake aggregation and atmospheric turbulence.