Economics and Policies for a Circular Bio-Economy

Do you want to contribute to a more sustainable society? Tackle the challenges in the transition towards a circular economy? In this course you will analyse what it takes to create a circular economy including sustainable supply chains.

The transition towards a circular economy is one of the biggest challenges in order to create a more sustainable society. This transition requires circular thinking and an interdisciplinary approach, combining socio-technical, managerial, and environmental considerations.

Right now we design products from cradle to grave: from production to consumption to waste, which is a linear model. But we should design products from cradle to cradle: in a closed loop whereby they don't become waste, but valuable resources again. And when we start thinking in circles, we might as well try to reinvent not just supply chains, but entire systems. Because that's what we have been doing with sustainability: we have been departing from the status quo, while cradle to cradle and circular pushes us to think outside the box.

Cradle to Cradle celebrates abundance; it recognizes that people, just like ants and trees, are abundant and have a large impact on their environment. The challenge is to make this impact a positive one and we invite you to join this challenge!

In the MOOC Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Approach, we therefore take a systems approach to the circular economy, considering different stakeholder perspectives, their incentive structures, and their impact on circular alternatives.

The circular solutions will be assessed by using applied, as well as emerging, technologies. You will learn how to use life cycle assessment and agent-based modelling to assess the socio-technical and manageable challenges and environmental benefits of alternative solutions.

Join the MicroMasters Program

This MOOC is part of two MicroMasters Programs, Economics and Policies for a Circular Bio-Economy and Business and Operations for a Circular Bio-Economy.

Both programmes prepare you for the transition from fossil to renewable, biobased resources and consist of 3 courses and a final project; the capstone:

• Economics and Policies in a Biobased Economy or Business Strategy and Operations in a Biobased Economy
• From Fossil Resources to Biomass: a Chemistry Perspective
• Capstone Economics and Policies for a Circular Bio-Economy or Capstone Business and Operations for a Circular Bio-Economy

The upcoming years are all about creating a sustainable future where it is necessary to move away from fossil resources and explore and implement the opportunities that biomass as a renewable energy source gives us.

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.

You will get 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.

Stating the obvious; a biobased economy runs on biomass. To apply the gained knowledge to the production of crops, it is therefore important to understand which factors play a major role in crop growth, yield formation and quality. In this module you’ll learn to identify design criteria for the production of biobased crops on both crop- and farm level.

Join the MicroMasters programme

This MOOC is part of two MicroMasters Programs:
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 Program will provide you with the knowledge and tools to analyse the business and operations side of the switch to biobased products.

The MicroMasters Program 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

“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 MOOC 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 Program!

This course is part of the MicroMasters Program 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 Program:

• 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 Program Business and Operations for a Circular Bio-Economy.