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 economics and policy aspects you should consider before choosing a certain process. In this capstone project, you will combine the knowledge of the technological section with the economics and policies 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 an economic 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 only start the capstone project after completing all other courses in the MicroMasters programme Economics and Policies for a Circular Economy, with a verified certificate for every course: Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Approach Economics and Policies in a Biobased Economy From Fossil Resources to Biomass: a Chemistry Perspective

Join this course if you want to learn 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. You will learn what biomass is, how to produce biomass renewable energy- and biomass fuel and how to make biobased products. The course will give you a solid understanding of how chemistry works in a biobased economy and in the production of biomass renewable products. Your valuable knowledge will help your company drive into sustainability and actually make the transition to use biomass resources to produce biobased products. You will learn about the products that can be derived from biomass and the processes used to do so. We will explore catalytic conversion of biomass by discussing types of catalysts, special challenges for catalysis when converting biomass into biomass energy and the interplay of catalysis and up/down stream processes. Then we dive into biorefinery. Biorefinery deals with the challenge of extracting valuable biomass components and converting them to final products. To achieve this you first need knowledge of the different types of biomass, the molecules present and their chemical characteristics. Biorefinery is all about efficient processing. Aspects of processing include the harvesting, pre-treatments, conversion and separation technologies. Join the MicroMasters programme This MOOC is part of two MicroMasters programmes, Economics and Policies for a Circular Bio-Economy and Business and Operations for a Circular Bio-Economy . The Business and Operations for a Circular Bio-Economy MicroMasters will provide you with the knowledge and tools to analyse the business and operations side of the switch to biobased products. The MicroMasters Economics and Policies for a Circular Bio-Economy covers the economic and policy side of converting biological resources into biobased products. You will able to contribute substantially to managerial decision-making as well as policy development. Both programmes consist of 3 courses and a final project; the capstone. Explore the other courses in the MicroMasters programmes: Economics and Policies in a Biobased Economy or Business Strategy and Operations in a Biobased Economy Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Approach Capstone Economics and Policies for a Circular Bio-Economy or Capstone Business and Operations for a Circular Bio-Economy

This course provides the tools needed to build a low-carbon power sector around the world. By diving into the perspective of different players in the power sector - from investors through to utilities, regulators and project developers - you will be able to choose the right strategies, policies and other levers needed to incentivise a cleaner power mix in your own context. This course explores the mix of approaches that can create a pro-renewables environment. It explores this from a policy, regulatory and supply-chain perspective and examines the incentives and rules available. Key policies are brought to life through case studies, learning from both success and failure. Key messages of the course include: Ambitions for renewable electricity must be grounded in technical and financial feasibility Pro-renewables environments recognise the needs of energy supply chain actors (e.g. project developers, utilities, regulators, electricity customers) and balances pricing, fiscal and financial and wider policies to incentivise and drive deployment There are multiple ways to encourage deployment of renewables across different scales – these have strengths and weaknesses and must balance rate of deployment, affordability and efficiency of generation Incentives and rules are a package and can be aligned to deliver affordable, efficient renewable electricity - several real-world examples demonstrate this Different countries have succeeded and failed in creating pro-renewables environments – demonstrating that while lessons can be used from these experiences, there is no single route to success and the environment must be bespoke to the circumstances of the country. This course should help decision makers across the electricity supply chain, in both the public and private sector, understand what mix of incentives is ideal from their perspective.

How can economic strategies bring our current, fossil fuel based energy system into a carbon neutral future? According to the International Panel on Climate Change, we have only limited time left to keep global temperatures below 1.50 C and to avoid a climate crisis. How do we go about decarbonizing our economy? What are the best renewable energy sources to bring about this transition? And how do we convince investors that renewables really are the best option? These and more questions will be addressed in this course. Moreover, we will identify the steps the European Union needs to take to reach its goal of a carbon neutral economy by 2050. In order to understand the energy transition options, we will examine the impact the introduction of carbon free energy production has on the market. Increasingly wind and solar power and other technologies, are integrating into the energy mix at a high level. Looking at real life cases and expert predictions, you will look into these technologies, their integration in current market designs and the economic strategies needed for their implementation. None of this can be done, of course, without the help of governmental policies. Using real life case studies, you will learn about the business case for renewable energies and how government support schemes, such as subsidies and green certificates, are currently driving the boom in the renewable energy sector. You will also learn about the implementation of carbon markets and carbon pricing and be able to discuss how effective this strategy has been in the European Union. Finally, we will be looking to the future, examining the visions that have been outlined for 2030, 2050 and beyond. The course will ask you to envision the future of energy supply: how would you shape the carbon free world? There are already many ideas out there, but nothing is certain. You could be the next great mind helping to mold the future into the sustainable and carbon-free world we all want to live in. This course is the second one in the program: The Economics of the Energy Transition. This program aims to help strategic decision makers, economists, policy advisors and regulators as well as practicing and future engineers to obtain a deeper understanding of the topic. Its aim is to increase your understanding of energy markets, the current European electricity market and to be able to promote the transition to a carbon neutral economy.

“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 .

This course looks at how increasing greenhouse gases are warming the climate and what it means to decarbonise - reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of - the power sector. It will also provide a range of arguments in favour of decarbonisation, including consideration of  ease of access to a secure and affordable energy supply and improvements to health and the environment. This course gathers together information about these different motivating factors for building a lower carbon power sector in one place, and includes a careful consideration of the importance of the political context. This course will challenge you to critically analyse your own political context. We would welcome advisors to senior decision makers in government, civil society activists and others interested in understanding and promoting renewable electricity to take this course. This course will help you develop a better understanding of the different dimensions of a move towards a cleaner power sector and develop more nuanced and detailed arguments.

A thriving global society relies on the stability of the Earth and its resilience across oceans, forests, waterways, biodiversity, the atmosphere and more. So how do we shape sustainability at a global scale? The boundaries set by the planet’s natural resources, the resilience of those resources, and the human activities that impact sustainability all come into play. In this massive open online course, see the rapidly evolving trends in global environmental change and the responses aimed at slowing or eliminating these changes. Get an overview of what is seen by some scientists as our current geological epoch – the Anthropocene, or an age of global change driven most significantly by humans. Learn how unsustainable patterns of production, consumption and population growth have challenge planetary resilience, all in support of human activity – and how our societies can develop in a just and safe way within the planet’s boundaries. This course is for: Anyone new to the concept of sustainable development who wants to understand the interplay between human actions and what the planet can support. Graduate students and advanced undergraduate students interested in the key concepts and practices of sustainability, environmental science, responsible consumption and related topics Sustainable development practitioners – as well as private-sector actors, such as those who work in corporate sustainability and responsibility – who want a concise overview of the latest developments in the field

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