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

30 January 2020

Making dikes safer with a bass guitar

Making dikes safer with a bass guitar

Playing a bass guitar on top of a dike. It’s not something you see a TU Delft scientist do every day. Yet this is exactly how post-doc Juan Aguilar-López tested his experiment on dike monitoring with the use of fiber optic cables. A technology which could greatly improve dike safety in the future.

25 January 2020

Plastic-free Rivers

Plastic-free Rivers

The oceans of the world are filling up with plastic waste carried there by rivers. Where it all comes from no one knows. Wim Uijttewaal, professor of Experimental Hydraulics and professor of Resources & Recycling Peter Rem are on a mission to make the rivers plastic free. ‘We want to turn the removal of plastic from rivers into big business. And we want to devise a plastic waste radar that will show where the plastic is, and how it got there.’

22 January 2020

Climate adaptation starts (roof) top down

Climate adaptation starts (roof) top down

TU Delft is going to become a little bit greener on top: the roof of one of the lecture rooms of the faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences has been turned into a sustainable ‘polder roof’. The green blue roof can collect, store and discharge rainwater in a controlled manner. For researcher Olivier Hoes (Watermanagement) the roof is a field lab to research how this smart roof deals with heavy rains and heat stress.

16 January 2020

Flatpack Buildings

Flatpack Buildings

Taking apart an entire multi-storey car park in the space of a couple of days and putting it back together again somewhere else without wasting any materials? It may sound like the engineering of a far-away future but it may happen sooner than you think. Recycling materials is common practice nowadays but is it the best solution for the environment? Milan Veljkovic and his team at TU Delft’s faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences knew there had to be another way. In partnership with other universities, institutes and companies in the EU they started REDUCE, a project aimed at finding technological solutions which contribute to the circular economy.

12 January 2020

BioXtreme is counting on the supercomputer

BioXtreme is counting on the supercomputer

How do you go about processing an endless amount of data about the DNA material of micro-organisms? When Marjet Oosterkamp was researching industrial wastewater treatment she turned for help to the national supercomputer: it takes over when the human brain and standard computers have to throw in the towel.


Climate Action News

07 April 2022

Sharlene en Lieke droegen bij aan het IPCC rapport: ‘een onvergetelijke ervaring’

En dan ben je ineens een van de schrijvers van het indrukwekkende IPCC rapport deel II over impact, adaptatie en kwetsbaarheid dat afgelopen februari werd gelanceerd. Het overkwam TBM onderzoekers Sharlene Gomes en Lieke Brackel. Beiden hadden de ervaring niet willen missen.

04 April 2022

Immediate acceleration of global climate action needed to realise 1.5°C goal

Immediate acceleration of global climate action needed to realise 1.5°C goal

The goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change, limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C, is becoming increasingly unrealistic unless countries collectively decide to take action immediately. This is the opinion of the five Dutch climate experts who contributed to the IPCC report that appeared today. Such an acceleration and strengthening of policy measures is still possible, but requires a far-reaching transformation of the systems that underpin our economy, including energy, industry, transport, and agriculture. The coming years will be crucial in this respect. These are some of the most important conclusions from the IPCC report published today.

15 March 2022

Documentary on solar energy expert Miro Zeman gains film award

Documentary on solar energy expert Miro Zeman gains film award

It isn’t often that a scientist wins a prestigious film award, but it happened last week to Miro Zeman, a solar energy expert at TU Delft. In his mini-documentary on energy transition, he elaborates on his scientific dream and how he is pursuing it at the brand new ESP Lab. The film was awarded a Green Heron during the Evening of the Corporate Film – The Golden Herons are awarded annually to the best commissioned films. The Green Heron is bestowed specifically on young film makers.

15 March 2022

Climate scientists launch national climate research initiative

TBM onderzoeker Andrea Ramirez Ramirez maakt deel uit van een breed gezelschap van Nederlandse klimaatonderzoekers die zich hebben verenigd op verzoek van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) en NWO in een taskforce. Deze groep zal nog voor de zomer een rapport uitbrengen over de oprichting van een nieuw netwerkinstituut voor wetenschapsbreed klimaatonderzoek.

25 February 2022

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

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

We generate more and more electricity from solar panels and windmills, but what if there is no wind and the sun is not shining? Will you still be able to charge your phone? This is one of the many questions that will be addressed in a brand new series of lectures by the MuseumJeugdUniversiteit. For this "green" series – made especially for children between the ages of 8 and 12 – this long-term collaboration between MuseumJeugdUniversteit and Science Centre Delft travels to the TU Delft campus, which celebrates its 180th anniversary this year.