Natural resources represent a potentially transformational opportunity to support development but are ultimately finite How do we make the most of them without destroying the planet? In this 12-week course, produced by the Natural Resource Governance Institute, the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and the World Bank, learn about efforts to sustainably manage extractive industry investments. You will come to understand the complex and interwoven aspects of natural resource governance and become part of a global movement of citizens and practitioners committed to harnessing the transformational impacts of our natural resources. This course is for: Sustainable development practitioners – as well as private-sector actors, such as those who work in corporate sustainability and responsibility or renewable energy – who need a historical context of the extractives industry and its evolution Extractive practitioners, such as those who work in oil, gas and mining, who are interested in making the field more sustainable Graduate students and advanced undergraduate students studying extractives, environmental science, environmental law, sustainable development, sustainable business and related fields Climate change activists or practitioners looking to understand the balance of sustainable resource use and business investment

This course focuses on sustainable development and global changes - vital issues for humanity. There is specific attention paid to the challenges in developed and developing countries and their transition from unsustainable to sustainable practices. The course is an introduction to sustainable development and its relation to the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. This connection between three critical resources offers a conceptual tool for achieving sustainable development. It has become increasingly important to understand the interdependencies and interrelationships between the three resources. Finding new approaches to manage the nexus could contribute significantly to achieving the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Topics of this course include: Finding new ways to face water challenges and opportunities Renewable energies Energy efficiency Sustainable agriculture Climate change Rethinking established ways of resources management Types of virtual water The interrelationship between local and global challenges and economic as well as population growth The role of technology in the WEF nexus as well as managing the nexus at local, regional, and global levels. This course gives you a solid understanding of the connection between water, energy, and food, and enables you to manage resources in a sustainable and effective way. You’ll build skills and knowledge that are key for sustainable development into the future.

“In order to produce food in a sustainable way for an additional 2 billion people by 2050, a business-as-usual approach will not be sufficient. This is especially true in the face of climate change and other forces threatening natural resources like biodiversity, land and water that are essential for food production and agriculture, including forestry and fisheries. To meet these challenges, science and the application of biotechnologies as well as conventional technologies will play a key role.” FAO Are you responsible for dealing with the economics and policies governing the transition- and implementation of biobased products and resources? Join the course Economics and Policies in a Biobased Economy and discover the whole value chain from Research & Development, over application, processing, retailing and final demand. Learn how the value chain and the rents and their distribution along the chain are affected by policies. Examples such as the benefits and costs of developing, cultivating, and marketing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will be discussed extensively. Upgrade your knowledge about the recent trends in the circular economy and in sustainable business. Know how to measure adoption and environmental benefits, learn about the benefits and costs and the distribution of sustainable products, market power, approval processes, supply chain, guiding policies and the current social debate. Join the MicroMasters programme! This course is part of the MicroMasters programme Economics and Policies for a Circular Bio-Economy A series of 3 courses and a final capstone project designed to help you cover the economic and policy side of converting biological resources into biobased products. You will be able to contribute to managerial decision-making, as well as policy development. Explore the other courses in this MicroMasters programme: Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Approach From Fossil Resources to Biomass: a Chemistry Perspective Capstone Economics and Policies for a Circular Bio-Economy You might also like the MicroMasters Business and Operations for a Circular Bio-Economy .

There are many suggestions and various policies and actions to combat climate change and achieve decarbonization but how do we know which ones will be most beneficial? For example, what will have the greater impact on emissions: increasing public transportation use or adapting the diet? How much will emissions reduce if we phase out coal by 2025? What impact will increasing heating and cooling efficiency have on total emissions? In this course you will be introduced to a new tool, the EUCalc Pathways Explorer, which calculates the effects of different adaptations in behavior and changes in technology. This tool consolidates scientific data gathered from researchers world-wide. The course allows students, engineers, policy and decision makers to learn to use the tool and thereby understand the impacts, trade-offs and synergies of climate change mitigation measures in different sectors and by different lifestyles. Scenarios can be chosen for actions in transport, diet, consumption and homes, and in technology for buildings, energy, transport and manufacturing. Effects on greenhouses gas emissions, land-use, water scarcity, jobs, air pollution and costs can be seen for each setting. This way you can consider which actions and transitions are required to mitigate climate change effects in Europe and/or its separate Member States. This course has been designed by TU Delft in collaboration with the partners of the EUCalc project . The course reflects the author’s views. The European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 730459. Other instructors: Dr. Wusheng Yu, University of Copenhagen Prof. Jurgen Kropp, Institute for Climate Change Potsdam Dr. Bernd Hezel, Climate Media Factory Dr. Judit Kockat, BPIE Dr. Joris Melkert, TU Delft Dr. Jeremy Woods, Imperial College Dr. Onesmus Mwabonje, Imperial College Garret Patrick Kelly, SEECHANGE Tavishi Gulera (Course builder), TU Delft Vincent Renken (Course builder), TU Delft

The production of hydrocarbons from extremely low permeability unconventional reservoirs through horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing has transformed the global energy landscape. Although hundreds of thousands of wells have been drilled and completed, recovery factors remain low in both tight oil (2-10%) and shale gas (15-25%) reservoirs. This course, designed for both geoscientists and engineers, covers topics ranging from the physical properties of reservoir rocks at the nanometer- to centimeter-scale to the state of stress on fractures and faults at the basin-scale. The course follows the textbook Unconventional Reservoir Geomechanics by Mark Zoback and Arjun Kohli, available in print or electronic versions. Unconventional Reservoir Geomechanics, Cambridge University Press 2019 https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/unconventional-reservoir-geomechanics/39665444034A2EF143D749DF48A5E5DC The first part of the course covers topics that become progressively broader in scale, starting with laboratory studies of the microstructural, mechanical, and flow properties of reservoir rocks and concluding with field observations of fractures, faults, and the state of stress in unconventional basins. The second part of the course focuses on the process of stimulating production using horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. Important engineering concepts will be reviewed, including microseismic monitoring, production and depletion, well-to-well interactions, and hydraulic fracture propagation. The final part of the course addresses the environmental impacts of unconventional oil and gas development, in particular the occurrence and management of induced seismicity. Two units will be released each week on edX. Each unit will be comprised of 3-5 video modules 10-20 minutes in length. Videos can be accessed at any time before the end of the course. Grading will be based entirely on 6 homework assignments. Homeworks are due on edX at the start of each week at 07:00 UTC (00:00 PST). Students who select the verified enrollment option and earn at least 70% on the homeworks will receive a certificate from edX.

Climate change is arguably the greatest challenge of our time. Human activity has already warmed the planet by one degree Celsius relative to pre-industrial times, and we are feeling the effects through record heat waves, droughts, wildfires and flooding. If we continue to burn fossil fuels at the current rate, the planet will reach two degrees of warming by 2050—the threshold that many scientists have identified as a dangerous tipping point. What is the science behind these projections? Join climate science expert Michael Mann to learn about the basic scientific principles behind climate change and global warming. We need to understand the science in order to solve the broader environmental, societal and economic changes that climate change is bringing. By the end of this course, you will: Develop a deep scientific understanding of HOW the climate system has been changing; Articulate WHY the climate system is changing; Understand the nature of these changes; Develop a systems thinking approach to analyzing the impacts of climate change on both natural and human systems. The course covers the basic principles of atmospheric science, methods of climate data collection and tracking of greenhouse gas emissions. It introduces basic climate modeling and explores the impact of various greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. Finally, it outlines the impacts of climate change on environmental, social, economic and human systems, from coral reefs and sea level rise to urban infrastructure. The course follows the general outline of the 5th Assessement Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change .

Wind turbines and solar panels are likely to play a critical role in achieving a low-carbon power sector that helps address climate change and local pollution, resulting from fossil fuel power generation. Because wind and solar power output is weather-dependent, it is variable in nature and somewhat more uncertain than output from conventional fossil fuel generators. It is therefore important to consider how to manage high penetrations of solar and wind so as to maintain electricity system reliability. This introductory course, delivered by Ieading academics from Imperial College London, with technical input and contributions from the National Energy Renewable Lab (Golden, Colorado), will discuss what challenges variable output renewables pose to the achievability of a reliable, stable electricity system, how these challenges can be addressed and at what costs. Its overall objective is to demonstrate that there is already a range of established technologies, policies and operating procedures to achieve a flexible, stable, reliable electricity system with a high penetration of renewables such as wind and solar. The course uses a variety of country and context-specific examples to demonstrate the concepts. Policy makers, regulators, grid operators and investors in renewable electricity will benefit from a solid understanding of these considerations, thereby helping them drive forward the development of a fit-for-purpose clean power system in their own regional context.

Please note: The capstone project is only accessible for ID-verified MicroMasters learners who successfully obtained verified certificate in all MicroMasters programme courses. In the first three courses of the MicroMasters, you will learn about all the different steps in a biobased process and the business and operations aspects you should consider before choosing a certain process. In this capstone project, you will work on integrating the technological section with the business and operations sections to develop a sustainable biobased practice. The focus is on linking the various aspects into an integral research, based on literature research and applied to a practical case. The final product in this capstone project is a written report. From a business perspective, you will write an advice for an audience of your choice, for example the executive board of a company, an investor or a governmental agency. You are free to choose the subjects you want to address in this advice. This means you get the opportunity to work on a case of your choice and receive feedback from experts in the field. In order to find the information and publications you need, you will get tips and advice on how to do proper literature research. Along the way, you will get feedback on your proposal, draft and final report. The final report should reflect the academic research capabilities on a master's level, i.e. defining a research proposal, proper literature research, methodology, data, results and conclusions and discussion. You can start the capstone project after completing all other courses in the MicroMasters programme Business and Operations for a Circular Economy , with a verified certificate for every course: Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Approach Business Strategy and Operations in a Biobased Economy From Fossil Resources to Biomass: a Chemistry Perspective

The high insolation in desert regions can result in a lower cost of solar energy. While this may be a key motivation to deploying PV in desert climates, there are also several challenges related to the technology that must be considered. In this course, you will learn what effect temperature and dust has on the solar cells and PV modules. The course looks at the cleaning methods used to reduce soiling, how to measure solar cell and PV module performance and optimize the design of the technology to enhance the energy yield. Finally, you will have the opportunity to consider how you would deploy PV technology in your specific context.

More specifically: Module 1 Module 1 is about demystifying Corporate Renewable Procurement (CRP) and getting to grips with the basics. We will look into the economic case for CRP – i.e. why it makes economic sense for corporates to procure renewable energy, and we will also consider the main methods of carrying out CRP, including their pros and cons. We will also hear from industry participants, from both India and the UK, about their experience with CRP. In module two we delve into the specifics of procuring renewable energy from a third party - which inevitably leads us to discussing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and how their use by corporates is rising in the context of CRP. We will review some of the most common contractual structures of PPAs as well the key terms to look out for when negotiating a PPA. We will also discuss the major risks inherent to these contracts and some potential mitigants for these risks, including club deals and aggregators. Finally, we will be hearing from E.ON UK about their experience with procuring renewable energy to corporates. In module three, we will be looking into the case for corporates to make direct investments into renewable assets, such as - for example - purchasing solar panels to install on the roof or taking an equity stake in a utility-scale project. Although this course is not about investment decision-making, it would be difficult to articulate the case for a direct investment without first understanding some of the key concepts of investment decision-making. For this reason, the first two sections of this Module 3 will be dedicated to outlining some of the theoretical underpinnings, as well as some of the main practical considerations, of investment decision-making. We will then be in a much better position to tackle the key differences between direct investments and third party procurement (the subject of the previous module). This week's case study is Acciona Energia, the world's largest 'pure play' developer and operator of renewable assets. The fourth and final module is all about finance. We will look into why finance is so important, the different types of financing arrangements, issues of 'bankability' and the role of finance in achieving the scale required for a successful energy transition. We will devote sometime to discussing your group assignment for this course to clear any doubts or concerns.