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

26 February 2020

TU Delft climate arboretum

TU Delft climate arboretum

Wednesday 18 March, National Tree Day (Nationale Boomfeestdag), will see the opening of the first climate arboretum at TU Delft.

25 February 2020

TU Delft Climate Institute offers travel support for negative emissions intern program

TU Delft Climate Institute offers travel support for negative emissions intern program

The climate institute at TU Delft would like to take up the challenge to develop scientific knowledge, scientific tools and technological solutions necessary for reversing the increase in atmospheric emissions.

20 February 2020

Taking a piss? Or turning it into energy

Taking a piss? Or turning it into energy

Pee not only generates uncontrollable laughter in five-year-olds but energy as well. Niels van Linden is currently working on a concept to produce electricity from urban and industrial residual waters, which in turn will power the energy-neutral water treatment system he is hoping to develop.

19 February 2020

From concrete waste to concrete buildings

From concrete waste to concrete buildings

Earth’s primary resources are finite. Human inventiveness, however, isn’t. At TU Delft’s laboratories, Francesco Di Maio is working on the recycling of concrete waste. Just like the Phoenix, the mythological bird that rises from its own ashes, Di Maio wants new concrete buildings to arise from their predecessors waste. He hopes his technologies will help to transform urban economies into self-sustaining loops.

18 February 2020

Can sandbanks save mangrove forests?

Can sandbanks save mangrove forests?

Waking up early and going into the field on a small fishermen's boat, while the sun is rising behind volcano tops. That's how days started for PhD student Silke Tas during her two month fieldwork in Indonesia. The rest of her days were less idyllic: they consisted mostly of treading through the mud to get the right measurements for her research. She studies the workings of coastal sandbanks that give a chance to mangrove forests to restore, so that the forests can, in turn, prevent coast erosion.


Climate Action News

04 May 2018

Plantenna towards an Internet Of Plants

Plantenna towards an Internet Of Plants

The 4TU.Federation has awarded a total of 22 million euros to five proposals within the framework of the call ‘High Tech for a Sustainable Future’, thus giving a strong impetus to research into sustainable technology.

20 April 2018

Take geo-engineering seriously as an emergency brake to combat global warming

Geo-engineering. The idea is cropping up increasingly often in answer to the question: what can we change on Earth to curb global warming? First and foremost, we must do everything we can to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases around the world. The Paris climate agreement is an important step in the right direction, but more and more studies are showing that the promises made by the signatory countries will have insufficient effect. So we need to find a quicker way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but, unfortunately, the global community isn't prepared to do that just yet. At some point, we may need geo-engineering whether we like it or not. The sooner we carry out research into the practical aspects of geo-engineering, the possible pitfalls and the consequences, the better prepared we will be for the future.

12 April 2018

Ruisdael Observatory: measuring the Dutch atmosphere on a 100m scale

Ruisdael Observatory: measuring the Dutch atmosphere on a 100m scale

‘Weather’ is the result of a combination of many diverse factors, such as solar radiation, the concentration of greenhouse gases, air quality and humidity, local building density or vegetation, wind direction and a whole host of underlying physical and chemical processes.

25 March 2018

Inaudible infrasound also useful for weather and climate forecasts

Inaudible infrasound also useful for weather and climate forecasts

Research by Pieter Smets of TU Delft and the KNMI shows that infrasound can be used for weather and climate forecasts. These inaudible low sound waves can be used to gain a better picture of the stratosphere, which can barely be measured in any other way. On Wednesday 28 March, Smets will be awarded his PhD at TU Delft for his work on this subject.

15 March 2018

Increasingly accurate picture of accelerating rise in sea levels

Increasingly accurate picture of accelerating rise in sea levels

Rising sea levels are affected by all kinds of different factors, most of which we can now effectively unravel and explain almost everywhere in the world. This is according to TU Delft researcher Thomas Frederikse, who has also established that the average rise in sea levels worldwide is accelerating. Moreover, the days on earth are becoming slightly longer... Frederikse will be awarded his doctorate on Monday, 19 March.