Course details

  • Study time: 4-6 hours

  • Target audience: students and professionals with a principal knowledge of the level of a bachelor's student

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction

    • Welcome video

    • Meet the teachers

    • Learning objectives

    • What do you want to learn?

    • Good practices to use this platform

    • How to obtain your course certificate
  • 2

    1. Biological carbon fixation, refined over evolution

    • Welcome video

    • Describe how carbon is fixated

    • Introduction to biological carbon fixation

    • Microbial CCU: key microbial pathways and microorganisms
  • 3

    2. Acetogenesis: leveraging the most efficient natural carbon fixation pathway for CCU

    • Introduction to Acetogenesis

    • Acetogens, carbon fixation biocatalysts

    • Intermezzo: The principles of microbial metabolism

    • The Wood-Ljungdahl pathway

    • Alternative substrates in the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway

    • Alternative products in the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway

    • Exercise 1: Fixating CO₂

    • Exercise 2: Industrial scenarios

    • Exercise 3: Syngas mixture

    • Exercise 4: Comparative Analysis of Carbon Capture Strategies

  • 4

    3. Process engineering for gas fermentations

    • Learning objectives

    • Basics of industrial microbial bioprocesses and fermentation

    • Exercise: industrial biotechnology for CO₂ conversion

    • Industrial biotechnology for CO₂ conversion

    • Improving gas mass transfer in fermentations

    • Industrial examples
  • 5

    4. Case Study - PHA production from CO₂

    • Learning objectives

    • The need for sustainable biodegradable plastics

    • Direct routes for production of Polyhydroxyalkanoates from CO₂

    • Indirect routes for production of Polyhydroxyalkanoates from CO₂

    • Industrial examples of PHA production from gases

    • Summary
  • 6

    5. Case Study - (In)direct production of microbial protein from CO₂

    • Introduction to (in)direct production of microbial protein

    • Open question: Protein and CO₂

    • Alternative protein sources

    • Exercise: carbon footprint of conventional protein sources

    • Why should we be interested in microbial protein?

    • Fundamentals of microbial protein production

    • How is microbial protein produced on an industrial scale? How can we produce it from CO₂?

    • Hotspot: How can microbial protein production be coupled to CCU?

    • Hotspot: Simplified process flow diagram

    • Main factors contributing to the electricity needs for microbial protein production as a food source

    • What is the most energy-intensive step when coupling CCU to MP?

    • Calculation of protein productivity in a bioreactor

    • Test on the advantages of microbial protein production

    • Test knowledge: Efficiency of direct and indirect microbial protein production

    • A taste of tomorrow
  • 7

    6: Case Study - Steelanol: Conversion of steel mill gases to ethanol

    • Introducing Steelanol

    • The Steelanol technology

    • Hotspot: Steelanol

    • Virtual tour

    • Impact & Milestones

    • Challenges & Opportunities

    • Follow Steelanol
  • 8

    Conclusion

    • Conclusions

    • What did you learn?

    • Help us to improve this course

    • Thanks to our sponsors
  • 9

    Evaluate this course (for testers)

    • How this evaluation is structured

    • Evaluate this course

Instructors

Project Manager

Heleen De Wever

Heleen De Wever is a distinguished expert in Applied Biological Sciences, earning her PhD in 1995. As the Project Manager at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) since 2001, she specializes in bioprocess intensification and the innovative utilization of CO₂-rich off-gases through biotechnological methods. Heleen leads the Biotechnology team at VITO's Separation and Conversion Technology unit, focusing on research lines such as high cell density fermentations, in-situ product recovery, and tailoring biomass for specific applications. Her dedication lies in showcasing industrial biotech advancements for a sustainable biobased economy and driving collaborative projects with industry and academia to optimize novel process concepts.

Professor

Ramon Ganigué

Prof. Ramon Ganigué, based at the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology at Ghent University, is a distinguished expert in environmental biotechnology. With a PhD in Environmental Engineering, he specializes in the treatment and valorization of diverse waste streams, encompassing both industrial and municipal sources. His research extends to mitigating sewer corrosion and odours, crucial in urban sanitation. Additionally, Prof. Ganigué delves into cutting-edge biological processes for converting CO₂ into high-value products, with a focus on syngas fermentation and microbial electrosynthesis. His work embodies a commitment to sustainable solutions for environmental challenges.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Myrsini Sakarika

Myrsini Sakarika is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Biotechnology at Ghent University where she obtained her PhD in Bioscience Engineering at CMET, Ghent University (Belgium). Her research efforts focus on resource recovery from agro-industrial side-streams by employing applied microbiology and chemical engineering. She wants to develop processes to upgrade recovered resources into more sustainable alternatives of currently existing products of the food, pharma/nutraceutical, fertilizer, and chemical industries, with main focus on the production of microbial protein for food applications. The last years, she is working on the coupling of abiotic and biological processes, such as carbon capture and utilization (CCU) and microbial protein, to increase the sustainability of these bioproducts. Her ultimate goal is contributing to more sustainable (and cruelty-free) production of goods from recovered resources.

Doctor

Quinten Mariën

Quinten Mariën is a bioprocess engineer and Postdoctoral researcher. He is fascinated by the potential of microbial technology in resource recovery and valorization from liquid and gaseous waste streams through fermentation processes. He holds a PhD in Bioscience engineering from Ghent University in which he focused on the characterization of novel CO₂ fixing bacteria and on the development of reactor technologies for high-rate carbon capture and utilization. Quinten was assisted in creating chapter 2 about Acetogenesis by Ghent University PhD candidate Umair Aslam. Learn from Quinten in chapter 2 about Acetogenesis.

Celia Álvarez Fernández

Celia Álvarez Fernández is a PhD candidate (expected 2026) at the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET) at Ghent University in Belgium. With a background in Biology and a specialization in Environmental Microbiology, she has explored diverse research paths, gaining experience in fields such as synthetic biology applied to carbon capture and utilization (CCU) strategies. Currently working in collaboration with the European Space Agency, Celia focuses on optimizing nitrogen recovery systems for life support in space missions, as well as developing monitoring tools to assess microbial community health and stability. Her work bridges applied and fundamental research, including the study of novel microbial metabolisms and how environmental conditions—Earth-like versus space-like—affect microbial phenotypes. Celia contributed to chapter 1 of this learning path.

Kristof Verbeeck

Kristof Verbeeck is a Business Developer at ArcelorMittal Belgium supporting the road-to-zero roadmap of its steel plant in Ghent. He holds a PhD in Bioscience Engineering, Environmental Technology, from Ghent University. His research focused on the microbial production of value-added chemical commodities from industrial CO2. After obtaining his PhD, Kristof joined ArcelorMittal Belgium to work as a project engineer on the Steelanol project. In this role Kristof was involved in the engineering, construction, commissioning and operations of the Steelanol plant. You'll find the input of Kristof under chapter 6: case study on Steelanol.