Leiden University is in the process of transitioning from one energy source to another: fossil fuels have to make way for sustainable energy from sunlight, water and wind.

The transition to new and renewable energy sources should be completed by 2050. Researchers in various disciplines at Leiden University are conducting unique research that will help us make this transition and reduce CO2 emissions.

The Institute of Environmental Sciences has carried out and participates in several projects that deal with the analysis of energy systems.

Energy transition will entail the construction of large numbers of new energy installations. Such construction projects may meet with opposition from people living close by. Assistant Professor Bríd Walsh investigated how the local community can best take part in such projects.

Twenty years from now, the world population is estimated to be around 8.7 billion people, compared to the current 7.3 billion. In combination with the improvements in living standards and the corresponding growth in consumption, this will result in an enormous increase in the demand for food, consumables,…

For Leiden University’s operations, sustainability is an important topic, especially looking at the CO2-footprint, renewable energy and the greening of buildings.

This book provides the answers, presenting clear insights into the current state of affairs and exploring future prospects.

Twenty years from now, the world population is estimated to be around 9 billion people (now 7.8 billion). In combination with the improvements in living standards and the corresponding growth in consumption, this will result in an enormous increase in the demand for food, consumables, water and energy.…

The transition from fossil fuels and the practical changes that this entails make many demands on citizens. Emma ter Mors, a psychologist and lecturer at Leiden University, is researching the factors that contribute to public perception and acceptance of new energy technologies.

The energy system is at the heart of two of the greatest challenges of the 21st century: decreasing CO2 emissions to meet the ambitions of the Paris agreement while fulfilling the growing energy demand associated with the economic aspirations of a growing world population.

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

Over time, the temperature in all buildings will be regulated in a sustainable manner. In this way, using gas will not be necessary anymore.

Marc Koper’s research focuses on electrocatalysis and electrochemical surface science for sustainable energy and chemistry. Reactions of interest are the redox reactions of the oxygen/hydrogen cycle (water oxidation, hydrogen evolution), the carbon cycle (reduction of carbon dioxide, oxidation of small…

Hetterscheid

Promotor: Huub de Groot, Co-promotor: Francesco Buda

Chemical reactions go hand-in-hand with an energy exchange with the environment in which they take place. Surfaces offer a variety of energy dissipation channels, constituted by the nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom of the atoms at the interface. Aiming at an improved future harvesting of energy,…

Juurlink

Examining if large scale application of new energy pathways can be constrained by materials and emissions.

Chemical reactions go hand-in-hand with an energy exchange with the environment in which they take place. Surfaces offer a variety of energy dissipation channels, constituted by the nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom of the atoms at the interface. Aiming at an improved future harvesting of energy,…

Systems are called real-time systems, if the correctness of the system does not only depend on the correctness of the system output but also on whether the output is delivered on time.

Huub de Groot is professor in Biophysical Organic Chemistry. With his team he works in the field of photosynthesis and artificial photosynthesis. The molecular basis for photosynthesis is formed by protein complexes and organelles that contain chlorophyll molecules. The antenna systems herein capture…

The work in this thesis describes the fundamental role of Lkb1 as a conductor of metabolism-related processes in zebrafish larvae.

The main research theme in the group of Dennis Hetterscheid is to understand and mimic bioinorganic multi-electron processes that are relevant to our future energy infrastructure. Reduction of protons generates hydrogen that can be used as a chemical fuel. Alternatively to gaseous hydrogen, the reduction…

Unplugging equipment that's secretly guzzling electricity, putting the curtains behind the radiator and only using a water-saving showerhead. The students participating in the Student Energy Race are given tips that everyone who cares about the environment and their wallets should learn from.

The development of new environmentally sound technologies is seen as a key route towards achieving sustainability.

Governments are increasingly facilitating the roll-out of so-called “smart meters”, a technology for measuring energy consumption that are able to transmit and receive data using a form of electronic communication. However, implementation has been slow or even stalled.

In this thesis, classes of strongly interacting quantum field theories, have been studied.

The theoretical explanation of cosmic acceleration is nowadays one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology.

HEPGAME is a research project that combines the world’s fastest computer algebra system for High Energy Physics equations, FORM, with insights from artificial intelligence. The name combines High Energy Physics and Games.

Climate change and energy transition were an important theme of the Dutch provincial elections: how should we invest in new sources of energy? Leiden University conducts multidisciplinary research into renewable energy solutions. Read more about this in the ‘Renewable Energy’ research dossier.

The production of sustainable energy can take up to 1000 times more space than fossil fuels, environmental researcher Paul Behrens concludes in a publication in Energy Policy. Various media reported on this remarkable outcome.

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Promotor: Prof.dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek, Prof.dr. R.M. Tromp

Nonadiabatic energy transfer from the translational motion (T) of a molecule impinging on metal surface to the metal’s electrons may determine whether the molecule can lose enough energy to adsorb or react.

Huub de Groot is one of the 55 authors for the book The Colours of Energy. The book consists of Essays on the Future of Energy in Society in which leading energy thinkers explore the future of energy in society.

In the coming decades, more than 2 million social housing units in the Netherlands will receive an upgrade in insulation and heating, in order to increase energy efficiency. To study the environmental, financial and social impact of this energy transition, a team of scientists from three universities…

Physicist Daniël Geelen has developed a new microscope that uses low-energy electrons. Those are less harmful to biological and organic materials. Geelen defends his PhD thesis on May 31st.

They can play a role in metabolic disorders and can break down tough plant fibers: β-glycosidases are enzymes that play many roles in nature. Fredj Ben Bdira changed these enzymes in order to enhance the production of clean energy and to improve the treatment of patients with metabolic diseases.

Governance and Global Affairs, Leiden University College The Hague

This project investigates the role of art in the public and academic debate on biosolar energy

The energy and water consumption and CO2 footprint of all buildings at Leiden University can now be seen on its new Duurzaam in Beeld website. ‘We do a lot about sustainability,’ says Jeroen Waijenberg, Sustainability and Energy Coordinator at the University’s Real Estate Directorate. ‘But our efforts…

For the first time, scientists have traced back a high-energy neutrino to its source in space. It was produced by a so-called blazar—a supermassive black hole. Researchers from neutrino detector IceCube report this in Science. ‘This is a milestone for neutrino science,’ says physicist Dorothea Samtleben…

A public symposium was held at Leiden University on 20 February on a hot topic: renewable energy. This is the second time in a year that the University has organised such a symposium. The previous one, about Artificial Intelligence, was a big success.