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

04 April 2022

Immediate acceleration of global climate action needed to realise 1.5°C goal

Immediate acceleration of global climate action needed to realise 1.5°C goal

The goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change, limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C, is becoming increasingly unrealistic unless countries collectively decide to take action immediately. This is the opinion of the five Dutch climate experts who contributed to the IPCC report that appeared today. Such an acceleration and strengthening of policy measures is still possible, but requires a far-reaching transformation of the systems that underpin our economy, including energy, industry, transport, and agriculture. The coming years will be crucial in this respect. These are some of the most important conclusions from the IPCC report published today.

15 March 2022

Documentary on solar energy expert Miro Zeman gains film award

Documentary on solar energy expert Miro Zeman gains film award

It isn’t often that a scientist wins a prestigious film award, but it happened last week to Miro Zeman, a solar energy expert at TU Delft. In his mini-documentary on energy transition, he elaborates on his scientific dream and how he is pursuing it at the brand new ESP Lab. The film was awarded a Green Heron during the Evening of the Corporate Film – The Golden Herons are awarded annually to the best commissioned films. The Green Heron is bestowed specifically on young film makers.

15 March 2022

Climate scientists launch national climate research initiative

TBM onderzoeker Andrea Ramirez Ramirez maakt deel uit van een breed gezelschap van Nederlandse klimaatonderzoekers die zich hebben verenigd op verzoek van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) en NWO in een taskforce. Deze groep zal nog voor de zomer een rapport uitbrengen over de oprichting van een nieuw netwerkinstituut voor wetenschapsbreed klimaatonderzoek.

25 February 2022

Delft scientists present “green” series of children's lectures

Delft scientists present “green” series of children's lectures

We generate more and more electricity from solar panels and windmills, but what if there is no wind and the sun is not shining? Will you still be able to charge your phone? This is one of the many questions that will be addressed in a brand new series of lectures by the MuseumJeugdUniversiteit. For this "green" series – made especially for children between the ages of 8 and 12 – this long-term collaboration between MuseumJeugdUniversteit and Science Centre Delft travels to the TU Delft campus, which celebrates its 180th anniversary this year.

21 February 2022

TU Delft and HyET Solar strengthen their partnership – in lightweight, flexible and ubiquitous thin-film solar foil

TU Delft and HyET Solar strengthen their partnership – in lightweight, flexible and ubiquitous thin-film solar foil

Solar foil represents the future. It can be applied in countless and unique ways – all the way from integrating it into traditional roof tiles through to creating new large-scale solar parks that reduce the price of our electricity. By signing a new four-year research contract, TU Delft and HyET Solar have sped up the introduction of the next generation of solar foil, bringing this vision of the future a significant step closer.


Climate Action News

12 February 2024

Robust reactor design to simplify biomolecule production

Robust reactor design to simplify biomolecule production

TU Delft and Delft Advanced Biorenewables (DAB) are engaged in a long term development of a low cost and robust integrated bioreactor especially for the production of biofuel precursors as well as chemical and other building blocks that have a common ‘oily’ behaviour of immiscibility with aqueous phases such a fermentation broth. Research of Rita da Costa Basto focused on the important elements of the integrated production process of hydrocarbons by the fermentative route such as coalescence and phase separation. She has defended her PhD thesis on this topic Thursday 11 January 2024 in Delft.

08 February 2024

How social science can make the energy transition more fair

How social science can make the energy transition more fair

‘People living near an airborne wind energy test site in Germany experience noise, ecological and safety impacts from the airborne wind energy system similar to those from the nearest regular wind farm. The airborne system did score better on visual impacts.’ These are the main conclusions from a pioneering study into the social impacts of airborne wind energy conducted by Helena Schmidt, a PhD candidate at TU Delft in collaboration with Medical School Hamburg.

01 February 2024

Minimising contrails through altitude diversions of aircraft

Minimising contrails through altitude diversions of aircraft

On 30 January 2024, PhD candidate Esther Roosenbrand’s study on contrails and air traffic management was featured in an article from the New Scientist, presenting a simple yet effective operational solution to reduce the climate impact of aviation.

30 January 2024

Art Science Festival | CityClimate meets CreativeCoding

Art Science Festival | CityClimate meets CreativeCoding

Last year, Juliana Goncalves and Carissa Champlin collaborated with City Science Lab at HafenCity University to co-curate the CityClimate meets Creative Coding festival in Hamburg. The aim of the festival was to bring science, the arts, data and planning support tools together to explore new approaches for addressing the climate crisis. I am delighted to share that the Festival was a big success!

30 January 2024

Cool down the world

Cool down the world

Heat is becoming an increasing problem worldwide, and we are getting closer to one and a half degrees of warming. But if we humans can warm up the earth, can we also cool it down? Herman Russchenberg (CEG) explains it in a new video from the University of the Netherlands.