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

17 February 2020

A golden age for earth observation

A golden age for earth observation

Earth observation is experiencing a golden age: satellites are providing us with an unprecedented wealth of data. Climate researcher Stef Lhermitte is making good use of this, because however effective our models may be, they still contain plenty of uncertainties.

16 February 2020

Waiting for the perfect storm

Waiting for the perfect storm

For months hydraulic engineer Patrick Oosterlo has been waiting for a heavy storm. One that can truly test his equipment that was installed in and on a dike on the coast of the eastern Wadden Sea. He needs high waves and strong winds to decide: is this dike high enough?

13 February 2020

Health problems from air pollution often originate from distant emissions

Health problems from air pollution often originate from distant emissions

Air pollution, and the associated premature deaths, are strongly affected by distant emission sources. In the US about half of the premature mortality occurs outside the state that produces the emissions.

11 February 2020

Detecting plastic waste in rivers using drones

Detecting plastic waste in rivers using drones

Rivers take vital water to villages and cities, but unfortunately they also carry harmful plastic to oceans. In order to prevent this, we need to find out exactly where the plastic comes from and how it is distributed over time and space. Counting plastic waste items from bridges is one of the commonly used methods to do this. But then how can the huge amounts of plastic in inaccessible places be pinpointed? Master student in Hydraulic Engineering Marlein Geraeds spent her internship at The Ocean Cleanup investigating how to monitor plastic waste in Malaysia’s River Klang by means of drones.

10 February 2020

Up in the clouds

Up in the clouds

They are a beautiful sight, those cumulus clouds drifting by slowly high above our heads. But what is propelling them? And how do they affect the wind? To find out Louise Nuijens spent a few days with her head in the clouds. Literally.


Climate Action News

05 September 2023

Clearing up the sky: reducing the uncertainty caused by clouds in the climate system

Clearing up the sky: reducing the uncertainty caused by clouds in the climate system

Wolken zijn verantwoordelijk voor een groot deel van de onzekerheid in klimaatprojecties. Met een Starting Grant van de European Research Council (ERC) wil Franziska Glassmeier de evolutie van wolken en hun invloed op het toekomstige klimaat beter begrijpen. Glassmeier is Assistant Professor atmosfeerwetenschappen aan de faculteit Civiele Techniek en Geowetenschappen van de TU Delft: "Als we de onzekerheid veroorzaakt door wolken kunnen verminderen, zouden we een veel beter idee hebben van hoeveel de planeet opwarmt door antropogene emissies."

01 August 2023

Premiere of “Dancing in the Desert”

Premiere of “Dancing in the Desert”

The premiere of Dancing in the Desert will take place on Wednesday, 23 August, at 2 pm on the Delft Markt town square. Admission is free. In this beautiful documentary, a team of filmmakers including Bram van Splunteren follow the student team working on the Nuna 11. It’s an exciting job, especially when you realise that the Nuna 10 caught fire during the previous Solar Challenge in Australia. Will these students succeed in designing and building an entirely new Nuna from scratch? Will it finish the race through the Moroccan desert and maybe even win it?

31 July 2023

Expedition to the Norwegian Trench to explore carbon burial

Expedition to the Norwegian Trench to explore carbon burial

To explore the role of the North Sea in the global climate system, the NIOZ research vessel Pelagia embarked on an expedition to the Norwegian Trench. On 15 June, the ship docked back at the NIOZ port on Texel, with on board Anna Enge, PhD student Hydraulic Engineering at TU Delft.

17 July 2023

TU Delft launches online course Sustainable Building with Timber

TU Delft launches online course Sustainable Building with Timber

“The way we construct our buildings needs to change.” says Arjan van Timmeren professor of Environmental Technology & Design at TU Delft. Over 35% of our global greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the built environment. A third of that amount is specifically related to the production of abiotic (non-renewable) materials such as concrete, metals and plastics. The associated challenges are not only climate related, but also concern resource scarcity, health and housing provision.

07 July 2023

Extra-resilient crops through integration of plant biology, simulation models and AI

Extra-resilient crops through integration of plant biology, simulation models and AI

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced its contribution of 15 million euros to PlantXR, a CropXR research programme into 'smart breeding' of extra resilient crops (eXtra Resilient, XR). This impulse brings CropXR's total budget to over €90 million for the next 10 years. NWO’s grant marks the start of the new Dutch institute CropXR, which integrates plant biology, computational modelling, and artificial intelligence into 'smart breeding methods'. Those will be used to develop crop varieties that are more resilient to climate change and less dependent on chemical crop protection. In CropXR, TU Delft works together with Utrecht University, Wageningen University and Research, the University of Amsterdam and dozens of plant breeding, biotech and processing companies on basic scientific research, data collection and data sharing, education, and advancing broad application of the results.