Climate Action and Governance

Kornelis Blok is a distinguished Professor of Energy Systems Analysis at TU Delft and a renowned expert in climate change mitigation and energy transition. His career began with co-founding Ecofys at age 28, a consultancy company now part of Guidehouse, which pioneered the Sectoral Decarbonisation Approach widely used by companies for emission reduction targets. His academic journey includes positions at Utrecht University, where he earned his PhD in Energy Science and MSc in Physics, before joining TU Delft. As chairman of the Delft Energy Initiative, he oversees all energy research at the university. His contributions to climate science include serving as lead author for the 3rd, 4th, and 6th Assessment Reports of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. With over 100 peer-reviewed publications, his research spans industrial energy efficiency, consumption patterns, renewable energy systems, carbon capture and storage, and international climate policies. In 2022, his lifelong dedication to solving energy and climate issues was recognized with the prestigious "Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion" royal honor.

Samantha Eleanor Tanzer serves as an Assistant Professor and Delft Technology Fellow in the Department of Engineering Systems and Services at TU Delft's Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. Her academic journey includes a BA in Economics from Swarthmore College, an MSc in Industrial Ecology (summa cum laude) jointly from Leiden University and TU Delft, and a PhD (cum laude) from TU Delft focusing on Negative Emissions in the Industrial Sector. Her groundbreaking research examines carbon dioxide removal systems and the complexities of greenhouse gas accounting, with particular emphasis on biomass with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and direct air capture. Her work has garnered over 376 citations, with significant contributions to understanding carbon removal in industrial sectors, including pioneering research on concrete decarbonization and chemical sector emissions reduction. Before joining TU Delft as Assistant Professor in October 2023, she worked at Bellona Europa, where she helped develop foundational principles for defining and governing carbon dioxide removal. Her expertise has made her a valued advisor to national and international governments and organizations on carbon removal policy and implementation. Her recent work includes developing temporally explicit life cycle CO2 accounting methods and investigating the influence of different assumptions in removal systems modeling.