Can TU Delft still work with the oil industry?
Delft's climate mission no longer makes working with the oil industry a given. Prof. Dr. Giovanni Bertotti (Geoscience and Engineering) works at the department with the most collaborations in the oil and gas industry. The shift from fossil to renewable energy is taking place slowly but irreversibly. What does that mean for collaborations?
Bertotti found the question of the morality of research collaborations interesting and important enough to prompt discussion within the department Geoscience and Engineering (GSE) about for example a change of course and moral dilemmas. “We followed the (research) money like everyone else and didn’t ask ourselves many questions about it. I think it's important to keep asking those questions.”
Yet this did not lead to the conclusion to break off cooperations with the oil and gas industry. In fact, GSE released the outcome in a summary. Their position is:
- The department continues to collaborate with the oil and gas industry because it provides access to unique data about the subsurface and,
- Collaborations must produce knowledge that is usable for the energy transition.
Read more in TU Delta's article (April 2022). Bertotti explains the considerations that he and his colleagues have made.
Source and photo by TU Delta / Jos Wassink
