Delft scientists present “green” series of children's lectures

‘It is important for the energy transition that we can make fuels and building blocks (molecules) for chemical products in a sustainable way – that means without extra CO2 emissions. For this you need certain ingredients. To make hydrogen for instance – an example of a sustainable fuel – you need clean electricity and platinum. As platinum is in short supply, we must use it as sparingly as possible. This can be done by using it in the form of nanoparticles. In my lecture for the MuseumJeugdUniversiteit I will explain, among other things, what the difference is between an atom, a molecule and a nanoparticle. Understanding that we not only need hydrogen, for example, but also the materials to make that hydrogen (such as platinum nanoparticles) will help to speed up the energy transition.’

‘Imagine you want to bake pancakes, but you don’t have milk in your fridge. What do you do? Do you go to the supermarket in the pouring rain, or do you use an app to get rapid delivery? The first option requires you to find your raincoat (which you don't like to wear anyway) from under a pile of clothes... and then you haven't even thought about where that lousy bicycle key is. Meanwhile, you can hear raindrops hitting the kitchen window harder and harder. Sigh, why go to the supermarket at all? 

When making choices, we often tend to go for the easiest option. Rapid delivery is a good example – it fits into a fast-paced, hassle-free existence. But the easiest option is not always the most sustainable one! In my lecture for the MuseumJeugdUniversiteit, I hope to make children aware of this. But awareness alone is not enough. In the end, you also have to take real action to keep the planet liveable for everyone. Using knowledge from psychology, I explain why it is so difficult to be green. And why people love to be lazy. Finally, I give tips on how to make green behaviour easier and more attractive.’

'Climate change is happening because we are emitting too much carbon dioxide (CO2). This comes from fuels we burn in the engines of cars and planes. Large factories also use a lot of fuel and emit a lot of CO2. So we urgently need to find other fuels that don’t release CO2 into the air. In this lecture, scientist Paulien Herder explains how and with what technology you can make new fuels from air and wind energy. You will be crafting molecules, and thinking of ways to improve that technology.'

‘Most people take it for granted that the lights go on at the flick of a switch, and that a washing machine starts at the press of a button. Actually, electricity is not so self-evident: because numerous calculations are hidden behind every action – every push of a button. We are also using more and more electricity these days. This is because more and more people have laptops, and appliances are increasingly electric. Take cars, for example. Ideally, we would like to generate electricity from sustainable energy sources, such as solar panels and wind turbines. But what if the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine? In this lecture I will show how we can ensure that we always have electricity and why mathematics is so important in this case.’