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

27 March 2023

Making the energy transition happen for aviation

Making the energy transition happen for aviation

In his inaugural speech as a Full Professor of Sustainable Aircraft Propulsion Arvind Gangoli Rao will defend the right for people to move up the transportation ladder and explain how he intends to reduce the climate impact this causes: by making the energy transition happen in aviation. Gangoli Rao’s inaugural speech will take place in Delft at 15.00 on 31 March. It will also be available online live and on-demand.

21 March 2023

Climate-proof coastal protection with 'living dikes'

Climate-proof coastal protection with 'living dikes'

Dikes protect the Netherlands from flooding. To keep the Netherlands safe in the future, several dikes are being reinforced in the High Water Protection Programme. The traditional way of strengthening dikes involves 'hard' (asphalt) revetment, but this is at the expense of the natural environment. Therefore, the 'Living Dikes' project looks at dike reinforcement using 'building-with-nature' methodologies. Various parties, including TU Delft, are investigating how 'living dikes' can play an important role in climate-proof coastal protection while preserving nature and landscape.

15 March 2023

TU Delft crowns best climate and energy publication

TU Delft crowns best climate and energy publication

Een algoritme dat voor een hogere energieopbrengst van windparken zorgt én een onderzoek waaruit blijkt dat niet alleen brandstofverbruik maar ook seizoenseffecten een belangrijke rol spelen bij het optimaliseren van vliegroutes en vlieghoogtes. Dit zijn – in één zin samengevat – de twee grote winnende publicaties van de Beste Climate & Energy Paper Award. De awardceremonie, die woensdag 15 maart plaatsvond op de TU Delft, stond volledig in het teken van grote en kleine innovaties die een bijdrage leveren aan het versnellen van de energietransitie en het beteugelen van klimaatverandering.

09 March 2023

What does Dutch society think about Dutch climate policy?

What does Dutch society think about Dutch climate policy?

From March 9, 2023 to April 21, 2023, all Dutch citizens can advise politicians on climate policy through the National Climate Consultation. Through the so-called Participatory Value Assessment (PWE in Dutch), researchers will enable Dutch citizens to provide the House of Representatives with advice.

28 February 2023

Tatiana Filatova one of eight winners of the 2023 Ammodo Science Award

Tatiana Filatova one of eight winners of the 2023 Ammodo Science Award

Today Ammodo announced that Tatiana Filatova is one of eight winners of the Ammodo Science Award for fundamental research 2023. The laureates each receive a cash prize of 350,000 euros which they can use in the coming years to explore new avenues of fundamental scientific research.