Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability

Offered By: Wageningen University via edX

Course Description

Overview

The world is moving from using fossil resources to sustainable biobased ones. In order to be truly sustainable, alternative, biobased resources also need to be economically viable. To be successful, corporations need to be able to navigate the challenges and opportunities in this dynamic field. This MicroMasters program is intended for those currently working in the energy, chemical and biotech industries and seeking to make a shift to more sustainable practices. It will focus on the use of chemical and biotechnological approaches for the production of energy-carriers, polymers, chemical building blocks and materials from renewable resources and waste streams.

Completion of this MicroMasters program in Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability will enable you to discover new resources and help your company make the switch from fossil to renewable, biobased resources.

The only way to obtain the MicroMasters program certificate is to complete and pass all courses in the programme with a verified (paid) certificate. You may browse individual courses for free before deciding to pursue the entire programme. However, some course content is only available to verified learners.

Syllabus

Courses under this program:
Course 1: From Fossil Resources to Biomass: A Business and Economics Perspective

Learn about the basic consumer science, business, logistics, supply chain, and economic principles that are essential for a successful transition from fossil resources to renewable biomass resources in a biobased economy.

Course 2: Biorefinery: From Biomass to Building Blocks of Biobased Products

Learn how to design an effective biorefinery to obtain valuable components from various biobased feedstocks such as plants, organisms and waste streams.

Course 3: Catalytic Conversions for Biobased Chemicals and Products

Design new (bio)catalytic conversion routes that allow you to use biobased feedstocks to their highest potential as building blocks for chemicals, materials and fuels.

Course 4: Capstone Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability

This Capstone project is the final part of the MicroMasters Program in Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability. Design a sustainable biobased process and evaluate the technological, societal and economic impact to finish the MicroMasters Program.

Courses

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7 weeks, 12-20 hours a week, 12-20 hours a week
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The use of fossil resources is a controversial topic and there is much scientific research to argue against their use for energy, chemicals, and in the production of almost every product. Because of this, we're seeing a huge shift towards sustainable biobased and renewable resources and away from fossil-based ones. In this new world, it's critical to know how to efficiently and effectively obtain valuable elements from biomass.

Join the MOOC Biorefinery: From Biomass to Building Blocks of Biobased Products and gain the latest academic knowledge on biorefinery which can be applied to their ongoing studies or to advance their careers.

Just as the petrochemical refinery is a crucial part of the fossil-based industry,so is the biorefinery for the biobased industry. In a biorefinery, a complex biobased feedstock is separated and processed in such a way to maximize sustainability and application opportunities. Upon completing this course, you will understand the tools and techniques needed to efficiently disentangle, separate and convert different biomass based feedstocks into simpler (functional) components.

First, you'll learn about available techniques and processes for biomass activation, disentanglement and separation. Next, you'll explore how to design a biorefinery taking into account feedstock and sustainable energy use and dive into:
- Mass and energy balances
- Design of biorefinery process units to obtain multiple products from one type of biomass
- How to recover energy and resources in the biorefinery system
- Evaluation of the designed system with respect to sustainability and economic criteria
- Evaluation of criteria for successful implementation
This course is part of the MicroMasters Program in Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability: a series of 3 courses and a final capstone project designed to help you develop the skills needed to seize opportunities and embrace the transition from a fossil-based economy to a biobased one.It'sespecially valuable to those who have (or ambition to have) a career in industries such as: (bio)chemical industry, agrifood water companies, energy producers, logistics, and related (non-)governmental organizations.

Explore the other courses in the MicroMasters Program:
- Catalytic Conversions for Biobased Chemicals and Products
- From Fossil Resources to Biomass: A Business and Economics Perspective
- Capstone - Final project and exam (only available to learner who have obtained a verified certificate in all other courses of the MicroMasters Program).
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8 weeks, 12-20 hours a week, 12-20 hours a week
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Please note: The capstone project is only accessible for ID-verified MicroMasters Program learners who successfully obtained verified certificate in all MicroMasters Program courses

In this capstone project, you will focus on designing a sustainable biobased process. The emphasis of the project is on conversion. You will design a process from biomass to a finished product and discuss your choices for a catalyst, reactor type, organism and feedstock. You should be able to discuss your choices in the broad picture of sustainability while emphasising the conversion aspects of the process.

Complete your MicroMasters credential with the final written report in this capstone project.

You can only start the capstone project after completingall other courses in the MicroMasters Program in Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability with a verified certificate for every course.
- Biorefinery: From Biomass to Building Blocks of Biobased Products; Design an effective biorefinery to obtain valuable components from various biobased feedstocks
- Catalytic Conversions for Biobased Chemicals and Products; Design new (bio)catalytic conversion routes to use biobased feedstocks to their highest potential C
- From Fossil Resources to Biomass: A Business and Economics Perspective; ****Learn how to market and sell biobased products within a profitable business model
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5 weeks, 20-28 hours a week, 20-28 hours a week
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Explore how to create a sustainable future by moving away from dependence on fossil to biomass resources for the production of food, chemicals, and energy-carriers. The key is using microorganisms and catalysts to create biobased products. In this course, you will focus on the end of the supply chain - - how to market and sell those products within a profitable business model.

Join the MOOC From Fossil Resources to Biomass: A Business and Economics Perspective if you want to advance your career and get the latest academic knowledge on creating a more sustainable biobased future.

After this course, you will have an improved understanding of other relevant disciplines, and be able to better communicate outside of your own field of expertise in chemistry or technology. You will get a solid foundation of relevant concepts in the biobased economy and biobased products such as:
- An introduction to biobased sciences
- Achieving sustainability
- Consumer behaviour
- Business
- Logistics and supply chains
- Economics and regulations
This course is part of the MicroMasters Program Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability: a series of 3 courses and a final capstone project designed to help you join opportunities and embrace the transition from a fossil-based economy to a biobased economy. It's especially valuable to have (or ambition to have) a career in industries such as: (bio)chemical industry, agrifood water companies, energy producers, logistics, and related (non-)governmental organizations.

Explore the other courses in the MicroMasters Program:
- Biorefinery: From Biomass to Building Blocks of Biobased Products; Design new (bio)catalytic conversion routes to use biobased feedstocks to their highest potential
- Catalytic Conversions for Biobased Chemicals and Products; Design new (bio)catalytic conversion routes to use biobased feedstocks to their highest potential
- Capstone Chemistry and Technology - Final project and exam (only available to learners who have obtained a verified certificate in all other courses of the MicroMasters Program).
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5 weeks, 12-16 hours a week, 12-16 hours a week
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Biomass is the only renewable feedstock which contains the carbon atoms needed to make the molecules to create chemicals, materials and fuels. However, the majority of our current scientific and industrial knowledge on conversion is based on fossil feedstock processing.

Join the MOOC Catalytic Conversions for Biobased Chemicals and Products if you want to advance your career and explore the relevant fundamental knowledge on (bio)catalytic conversionfor producing(new) biobased building blocks, chemicals and products.

The focus on this course is the design of an effective (catalytic) process for the conversions of biobased feedstocks to desired products. Unique for bioconversion is the presence of the elements O, N, P, S and large quantities of water. You will therefore will explore:
- Microbial, biochemical and chemical (i.e., catalytic) conversion routes.
- How to use biocatalysts, home- or heterogeneous catalysts and optimize the process of conversion. Tune catalysts to their specific advantages and disadvantages for biobased conversions.
- The influence of the reactor choice as an inevitable asset in the process.
- How to describe the productivity of catalytic processes depending on the choice of the reactor and how the choice of the reactor can add to the stability of the conversion process.
The knowledge gained in this course will allow you to design processes specifically targeted on biomass based conversions. Learners will also have the opportunity to interact with chemists, engineers and scientists who mainly focus on the traditional fossil-based conversions.

This course is part of the MicroMasters Program in Chemistry and Technology for Sustainability: a series of 3 courses and a final capstone project designed togive you the skills needed tocontribute toand embrace the transition from a fossil-based economy to a biobased one. It's especially valuable to those who have (or ambition to have) a career in industries such as: the (bio)chemical industry, agrifood water companies, energy producers, logistics, and related (non-)governmental organizations.

Explore the other courses in the MicroMasters Program:
- Biorefinery: From Biomass to Building Blocks of Biobased Products
- From Fossil Resources to Biomass: A Business and Economics Perspective
- Capstone Chemistry and Technology - Final project and exam (only available to learners who have obtained verified certificates in all other courses of the MicroMasters programme).

Taught by

Jacqueline Bloemhof, Arnout Fischer, Harry Bitter, Corjan van den Berg, Marian Vermue, Costas Nikiforidis, Ellen Slegers, Argyris Kanellopoulos, Dmytro Krushynskyi, Emiel Wubben and Justus Wesseler