Wageningen University and Research Center

This course explores how to create a sustainable future by moving away from dependence on fossil resources to biomass resources for the production of food, chemicals, and energy carriers. Microorganisms and catalysts to create biobased products are discovered and then learning how to market and sell those products within a profitable business model is reviewed. This course provides a solid foundation of relevant concepts in the biobased economy and biobased products by reviewing an introduction to biobased sciences, production of biomass, biorefining, achieving sustainability, consumer behavior, bioconversion, (bio)chemical conversion, business, logistics and supply chains, and economy and regulations.

The course starts from the premise that climate change calls for new approaches to sustainable development that take into account complex interactions between climate, social, and ecological systems. This course focuses on experiences, actions, and approaches aiming at the production of services for a society that addresses both adaption and mitigation and promotes long-term climate resilience.

This course introduces the fascinating field of environmental history, focusing on the tensions between economic growth, resource scarcity, and environmental degradation in the distant past as well as in present-day societies. The course pays ample attention to the transition from pre-industrial to industrial modes of production and the environmental consequences thereof - the making of the Anthropocene. Analogies are drawn from the collapse of ancient civilizations to contemporary environmental problems, such as global warming and mineral resource depletion. The course also specifically addresses the various strategies that historical civilizations have developed in order to survive climate change, deforestation, soil erosion, or other ecological threats to human livelihood. Finally, the course addresses the emergence of present-day environmental consciousness in the wake of modern urbanization, industrialization, and unprecedented demographic growth.

This course covers the basics of food technology: the chemistry, physics, microbiology, and process engineering of food. The course is designed for students with no or little prior knowledge of chemistry, physics, and biology. The course begins with a case study on an existing food product, studying all elements of the food label (ingredients, nutritional value, rules, and regulations) and finding out the production process of this product. Lectures cover the production processes including theories on chemical, microbial, physical, and process engineering.  Exercises are worked out to illustrate the theory. Processes reviewed include beer brewing, the production of chocolate, dairy production, sugar refinery, and the production of ingredients. The course also reviews the quality of foods as a function of the treatments and conditions, for example during shipment, pasteurization/sterilization, and storage.