Romanian Nobel Peace Prize laureate launches project to decarbonise the Danube Delta

Professor Delia Dimitriu wants to bring international expertise, free of political restraints, to help solve the problem on a regional level

On Tuesday, Professor Delia Dimitriu, a member of the team that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 started a decarbonisation project for the Danube Delta. The project involves the collaboration of many researchers from across the EU focusing on one of Europe’s biggest rivers.

The project is called ‘Tulcea: 3D Initiative -  Decarbonisation of the Danube Delta’ and will focus on the port of Tulcea in Romania as a start. Researchers are taking a holistic approach to tackle big picture issues on the Danube, like ship overcrowding and biodiversity conservation, as well as upgrading dilapidated infrastructure on the river with green alternatives.

Delia Dimitriu won The Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. That year, the prize was split between them and Al Gore, for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.

Although, Delia Dimitriu is currently a professor at the Manchester Metropolitan University, as a Romanian national, she is trying to bring good practices and international expertise back home.

Decarbonising the port of Tulcea

‘Tulcea: 3D Initiative -  Decarbonisation of the Danube Delta’ is focused on finding a way to implement the European strategy for the decarbonisation of the regions, part of the European Green Deal. The Tulcea: 3D team consists of researchers from Germany, Bulgaria, Portugal, Belgium, Croatia and Italy and they will work to identify local green and sustainable solutions for energy and infrastructure.

One of the first objectives of the 3D initiative is to transform the port of Tulcea and, by extension, the Danube Delta into a green zone. This green zone will use 100% renewable energy and will have zero impact on the environment.

The project calls for fast-charging electric charging stations, coupled with photovoltaic systems. Furthermore, they want to bring in a fleet of fast electric boats as passenger transport. According to the group, currently, the Danube Delta is overcrowded with passenger ships and fossil fuel burning engines damaging the environment.

Showing the power of experts, free from political factors

According to Professor Dimitriu, the Tulcea: 3D Initiative team will showcase the power of experts working outside of the political framework. She added that they have to partner with local authorities as well as non-governmental organisations to be able to put their solutions into practice.

She stressed the fact no one has a monopoly on climate change and climate solutions, thus, researchers from different parts of the world have the potential to complement each other with regional understanding and international practices.