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 January 2024

Old times revived for climate adaptation

Old times revived for climate adaptation

Extreme rainfall events are becoming more extreme and periods of drought are becoming more frequent. To keep the Dutch delta liveable, adaptations will be needed, such as extra water buffers. The Netherlands has a long history of struggle against water, but also makes eager use of it. What can we learn from our heritage? Erik Mostert, lecturer and researcher Water Management at TU Delft, developed several strategies for the province of South Holland to be more resilient to climate change. Inspiration for this came from Dutch heritage: tow barge canals.

09 January 2024

Student 'Quick Reaction' Team erected for field measurements in extreme weather events

Student 'Quick Reaction' Team erected for field measurements in extreme weather events

06 December 2023

Pivotal moment for humanity as tipping points in Earth systems and society accelerate

Pivotal moment for humanity as tipping points in Earth systems and society accelerate

The report says current global governance is inadequate for the scale of the challenge of accelerating tipping points and makes six key recommendations to change course fast, including coordinated action to trigger positive tipping points.

30 November 2023

The new food waste monitor 'Orbisk' provides insight into food waste at TU Delft

The new food waste monitor 'Orbisk' provides insight into food waste at TU Delft

Since the start of the academic year 2023/2024, the new food waste monitor 'Orbisk' has been integrated in the Aula, within the Foodsquare restaurant. This innovative system monitors the food that is been thrown away. A third of global emissions are attributed to food waste, so reducing food waste has a positive impact on the climate.

30 November 2023

Researchers call for Dutch leading role in global methane monitoring

Researchers call for Dutch leading role in global methane monitoring

At COP28 in Dubai, countries want to reach new agreements to reduce emissions. This requires the identification of emission sources. The Netherlands has extensive experience with satellites that monitor methane emissions. Researchers from SRON, KNMI, TNO and TU Delft see huge methane plumes over landfills and fossil fuel extraction with their current space instrument TROPOMI.


Climate Action News

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.

23 April 2024

Packing-free soft drinks on TU Delft Campus with iTapToo

Packing-free soft drinks on TU Delft Campus with iTapToo

18 April 2024

Delft University Fund continues successful campaign: Tech for Impact

Delft University Fund continues successful campaign: Tech for Impact

Does molten salt make for clean and safe nuclear power? Can we treat heart problems better with a digital twin? Will bacteria succeed in removing arsenic from groundwater? Will we be climate neutral by 2050 by capturing CO2 from the atmosphere? These questions are at the heart of the Tech for Impact 2024 campaign.

07 April 2024

Going underground to accelerate the heat transition

Going underground to accelerate the heat transition

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.

25 March 2024

Isabell Bagemihl wins the Best Energy Paper 2023

Isabell Bagemihl wins the Best Energy Paper 2023

"Techno-economic Assessment of CO2 Electrolysis: How Interdependencies between Model Variables Propagate Across Different Modelling Scales"