Master of Science in Engineering (Sustainable Energy) – study line in biofuels

Production of cheap and sustainable renewable fuels via bio-technological processes is of vital interest to the future society. A variety of crops as well as waste materials can be applied as substrate for such processes and the choice of substrate is crucial for a sustainable biofuel. The next step is that the biomass must be converted into substrates that can be consumed by the microbial cells that produce the fuels in subsequent fermentation processes. Again the choice is essential and requires expertise in such as enzymatic hydrolysis of raw materials, fermentation technologies as well as in assessment of the sustainability of this process. Finally, for the biofuel to support a sustainable development, the biomass resources and the technologies has to be considered in a system perspective combining the relevant energy system. In this study line, you will gain competencies to bridge these different fields of importance for future jobs where the potentials of bioenergy in the energy system is generated, designed and analyzed.

Recommendations

Prerequisites

BSc engineers specializing in Environmental Engineering may be admitted provided that at least 10 credit points from among the following courses form part of their programme:

12134 Environmental Microbiology 

27022 Biochemistry
27032 Fermentation Technology
28020 Introduction to Chemical and Biochemical Engineering 

Technical science BScs and BSc engineers from other academic institutions may qualify for admission if the components of their qualifications are equivalent to those described above. 
It is essential that these students have completed the following courses prior to admission (or their equivalent), as these courses constitute a major part of the academic foundation for the study.

27002 Life Science
27007 Biotechnology and communication 
27022 Biochemistry 
27032 Fermentation Technology 

If any student do not fulfill the above requirements, up to 15 points can be taken during the masters education and subtracted from the requirement for elective courses.


Programme Provisions 


To earn an MSc degree in Sustainable Energy with Biofuels study line, students must fulfill the following requirements:

• Have passed General Competence courses adding up to 30 ECTS points. 
• Have passed Technological Specialization courses adding up to at least 30 ECTS points, with 2 compulsory TS course (15 ECTS) and 15 elective TS-courses. 
• Have to pass courses adding up at 10 ECTS points from list of either TS courses or elective courses. 
• Have carried out a Master thesis project of at least 30 ECTS points within the scope of the general programme 
• Have passed a sufficient number of other courses to bring the total number of ECTS points for the entire course of study to 120

 
List of courses

General competences (30 ECTS): (Compulsory)

45003 Energy resources, markets and policies
45002 Modelling and analysis of sustainable energy systems
45503 Energy and Sustainability
45004 Feasibility Studies and System Assessment of Energy Technologies


Technological Specialization Courses (30 ECTS)

1. Compulsory TS course (15 ECTS)
45501 Production of biofuels
45502 Biorefinery

2. Elective TS-courses: (15 ECTS)

11119 Energy End-Use Savings and the Environment
28350 Process Design: Principles and Methods
41416 Energy Systems - Analysis, Design and Optimization 
42372 Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Systems
28233 Recovery and purification of biological products

Elective Courses
10 ECTS must be taken either from the below list of courses or from excess courses from the group Elective TS-courses. The remaining 20 ECTS can be used freely for any of the DTU advanced courses.


10333 Physics of Sustainable Energy 
12132 LCA-Modeling of Waste Management Systems 
12600 Nanotechnology and the Environment 
42375 Advanced life cycle assessment and evaluation of environmental impacts 


 
Masters Thesis

The master thesis will typically comprise a whole semester of research work involving experiments and/or modelling of eg. enzymatic processes, fermentation of substrates to e.g.biofuels and other high value products using the sustainable biorefinery concept, process integration or control. The research project will usually be carried out either at Risø DTU, DTU System Biology or DTU Environment. The number of credits must be between 30 and 35 (corresponding to that up to 5 of the elective credits can be used to increase the size of the project).