Welcome to Biorefineries for the Production of Fuels, Chemicals and Feed

Description:

Mineral oil currently constitutes the major resource for fuel production, but also as a raw material for chemical, pharmaceutical and other industries. In the coming 20-50 years the industrialized society will have to find alternative resources paralleling the depletion of mineral oil.

Future energy supply probably will be based on multiple renewable sources of which biomass will constitute a significant part, while the replacement of oil as industrial raw material will depend mostly on biomass. The biomass conversion is assumed to take place in biorefineries, which mimics traditional fossil carbon-based refineries in which the raw material has been exchanged with biomass, and where the majority of the processes exploited are biological and/or biochemical. A biorefinery, therefore, can be considered a factory including pre-treatments, separations and biological or biochemical transformation in multiple steps for the production of chemicals and fuels from biomass.

The aim of the course is to give a detailed overview of different biorefinery concepts, and to present how different types of biomass can be utilized as raw materials. The course will deal with the following topics: Bioresource availability; energy crops; marine biomass; biorefinery concepts; pretreatment technologies; enzymatic conversion; discovery of new enzymes, fermentation,  processes; development of biocatalysts using genetic engineering; membrane based separation processes; and post-treatment methods.

The format of the course is a balanced distribution of lectures and group work. The course is targeted for Ph.D. students, research assistants and employees from industries working within the biorefining area. The course will be scheduled back-to-back to the Ph.D. course on “Anaerobic digestion” (June 6-10, 2016), also given at the Section for Sustainable Biotechnology

Organizer: Associate Professor Mette Lübeck, e-mail: mel@bio.aau.dk

Lecturers: Peter Westermann, Hinrich Uellendahl, Mette Lübeck, Birgitte K. Ahring, César Fonseca, Zsofia Kádár, Peter Lübeck, Morten Lykkegård Christensen, National experts from industry and academia

ECTS: 4.0

Time: June 13-17, 2016

Place: Section for Sustainable Biotechnology, Aalborg University Copenhagen

A.C. Meyers Vænge 15

Zip code: 2450

City: Copehagen SV

Number of seats: 30

Deadline: May 23, 2016

Important information concerning PhD courses We have over some time experienced problems with no-show for both project and general courses. It has now reached a point where we are forced to take action. Therefore, the Doctoral School has decided to introduce a no-show fee of DKK 5,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately three months before start. This can hopefully also provide new students a chance to register for courses during the year. We look forward to your registrations.