TU Delft Energy Initiative

Het Delft Energy Initiative is de toegangspoort tot energie-onderzoek, -onderwijs en -innovatie aan de TU Delft. Dit initiatief dient als katalysator voor samenwerking en discussie tussen wetenschappers en studenten en tussen de TU Delft en het bedrijfsleven, overheden en politici. Het Delft Energy Initiative wil op deze manier bijdragen aan energie-innovatie en ervoor zorgen dat duurzame energievoorziening prioriteit blijft voor de samenleving.

Het initiatief is opgedeeld in de 4 energie instituten: Wind Energy; Urban Energy, PowerWeb en e-Refinery. De instituten bestaan uit 4 of 5 faculteiten. Uiteraard is er deels overlap; daarom staan de instituten in nauw contact met elkaar. Thema's als Sociale Innovatie en Governance doorkruisen elk thema. Ook zijn de energie platforms Ocean Energy; H2 en eBattery betrokken. Hieronder vindt u de links naar de instituten en platforms.

Via het Delft Energy Institute kan een startup gerelateerd aan de energietransitie een voucher verkrijgen en kunnen onderzoekers met hun publicatie jaarlijks een geldbedrag winnen. Onze 'Energy Club' zorgt dat alle TU Delft studenten kennis met elkaar kunnen uitwisselen over de nieuwste onderzoeken en het energie onderwijs via interessante evenementen.

Welkom bij het TU Delft Energy Initiative

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Building an ethical framework to assess offshore wind park projects

Due to controversies surrounding the installation of wind parks on land or near the shore to generate renewable energy, there is an increasing interest in installing turbines offshore in the North Sea. Placing wind parks offshore raises new ethical dilemmas and concerns. TPM researchers Andrea Gammon, James Hutton and Udo Pesch, led by Anna Melnyk and Behnam Taebi, have won a tender from the Topsector Energie and will be working on composing and refining an ethical framework for assessing offshore wind parks projects. More renewable energy projects need to be installed to bridge the emission gap and achieve the goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. For the Netherlands, meeting national climate goals along with dealing with the European energy crisis and closure of the Groningen gas field entails more investment into wind and solar energy projects. However, such projects raise social controversies and can have negative externalities on ecosystem services. Visual impact The placement of wind parks, for instance, have been especially contested for their visual impact on the land- or seascape, therefore undermining place-based identity or threatening tourism. Due to controversies surrounding installation of wind parks on land or near the shore, there is an increasing interest in installing turbines offshore in the North Sea, as described in Missieprogramma 1: Renewable Energy at Sea of the Dutch Klimaatakkoord. This is also the only way to accommodate the incredible growth of wind energy in the Netherlands, upon which meeting the mitigation targets largely depends. Ethical dilemmas of offshore wind parks The societal urgency is clear, but this doesn’t mean that controversies are avoided. Placing wind parks offshore raises new ethical dilemmas and concerns, in particular with respect to the ecological risks. Think of disruption of seabird foraging and migration paths or the potential destruction of marine habitats. Spatial issues also arise with respect to the already overcrowded North Sea. To address the call from the Topsector Energie, the researchers will develop a framework for systematically assessing the ethical acceptability of offshore wind parks in the North Sea. Based on a moral deliberative approach to stakeholder engagement, the framework will help to consider the complex interplay of societal, environmental, and technological factors and risks, from which ethical dilemmas may arise. The project starts in November and the framework is expected to be ready in July 2024. Anna Melnyk Behnam Taebi