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

16 February 2024

Green steel programme receives final approval, marking its official start

Green steel programme receives final approval, marking its official start

On 12 February, the Growing with Green Steel programme received official approval for a grant of more than 100 million euros from the National Growth Fund. Around 22 million euros of the total sum is destined for TU Delft. The programme aims to develop scientific knowledge and technology for sustainable steel production.

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!