Update and expand the scope of Biosystems Engineering programs of studies in Greece placing emphasis in the areas of bio-fuels, bio-materials and quality of products by P. Panagakis, D. Briassoulis & E. Nikopoulos Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering

Agricultural University of Athens Department of Agricultural Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Department of Agricultural Sciences Sector of Agricultural Engineering University of Thessaly Department of Agriculture, Crop Production & Rural Environment Institutions offering Agricultural Engineering studies in Greece Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin

Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Specific modules-specialisations or courses in bio-fuels, bio-based materials and quality of products offered in Greece Bio-fuels In AUA two courses are offered in the specialisation of ‘Agricultural Construction and Agricultural Mechanisation’ namely: ‘Renewable Energy Technologies’ ‘Computer Aided Design of Renewable Energy Systems’ In AUTh there are two undergraduate courses concerning the production of bio-fuels, namely: ‘Renewable Energy Resources’ ‘Farmstead Equipment and Waste Management’

ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Specific modules-specialisations or courses in bio-fuels, bio-based materials and quality of products offered in Greece Bio-fuels In UoTh aspects of the bio-fuels chain are given in the course entitled: ‘Energy Technologies in Agriculture’ offered both at the undergraduate level and the graduate level

ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Specific modules-specialisations or courses in bio-fuels, bio-based materials and quality of products offered in Greece Bio-based materials At present no specific module is offered at the basic 5-years programs of studies by the Greek Agricultural Engineering Departments with emphasis placed in subjects related to bio-based materials The only relevant to materials courses are ‘Strength of Materials’ ‘Physicochemical and Mechanical Properties of Agricultural Products’

ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Specific modules-specialisations or courses in bio-fuels, bio-based materials and quality of products offered in Greece Quality of products Currently there are no specific undergraduate modules-specialisations offered in AUA, however aspects are taught within various undergraduate or graduate courses Issues related to food safety and hygiene, are presented within the next undergraduate courses: ‘Physicochemical and Mechanical Properties of Agricultural Products’ ‘Storage of Fresh Agricultural Products’ ‘Storage and Handling of Frozen Agricultural Products’ ‘Storage Management of Agricultural Products’ and under the graduate specialization entitled ‘Storage of Fresh Agricultural Products’

ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Specific modules-specialisations or courses in bio-fuels, bio-based materials and quality of products offered in Greece Quality of products In UoTh, issues related to product quality are presented in two undergraduate courses, namely: ‘Agricultural Products Processing Technologies’ ‘HACCP Application and Quality Assurance in Food Industry’ Finally, in AUA issues related to animal welfare such as design of housing areas and facilities as related to animal thermal comfort, behavioural stereotypes, stocking density, space allocation, HACCP matters, etc., are tackled within the following undergraduate courses: ‘Environmental Control for Animals’ ‘Design and Planning of Livestock Units’

ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering The possible evolution from Agricultural Engineering programs of studies towards new programs of studies in Biosystems Engineering in the future will require serious changes to be introduced in the existing programs of study adopt and apply the FEANI-approved core program of studies in Agricultural/ Biosystems Engineering The first one would be to adopt and apply the FEANI-approved core program of studies in Agricultural/ Biosystems Engineering Necessity of changes in the current Agricultural Engineering programs of study in Greece

ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering A subject on bio-based materials could be incorporated in the existing in the core curricula course “Introduction to Material Science & Engineering” that is already included in the Module “Structural Systems and Materials in Agricultural and Bioprocess Engineering” or in a similar course An additional more specific course on bio-based materials could also be introduced as an elective in this and possibly in some additional and/or new modules (e.g. in the modules ‘Waste Management in Agricultural and Bioprocess Engineering’, ‘Bioprocessing’ etc) The background knowledge should also be adapted accordingly

Necessity of changes in the current Agricultural Engineering programs of study in Greece ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Likewise, concerning bio-fuels, the existing courses should be supported by a background course on “Physical and Chemical Processes Engineering”, which is considered necessary with regard to both subjects of bio-fuels and bio- based materials Supplementary elective courses concerning animal welfare (e.g. Animal Behaviour and Welfare) could be offered by the Department of Animal Science

Enrolment of students ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Only a limited number of undergraduate or graduate students in all three Greek Universities follow a specialisation in the areas of bio-fuels, bio-based materials and quality of products

Current Education and Research Infrastructure ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Bio-fuels In AUA, a special laboratory has been established, well equipped with analytical instruments for the determination of physical and chemical properties of fuels and bio-fuels It is involved in studying the application of bio-fuels for energy production, (e.g. mechanical power, heat and electricity), along with biomass pyrolysis and gasification

Current Education and Research Infrastructure in bio-fuels ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering

Current Education and Research Infrastructure ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Bio-based materials A very good research team and infrastructure, have been developed over the last years in AUA, for basic and applied research on bio-based materials A well equipped laboratory has been organised for analysing the behaviour and testing bio-based materials in the laboratory and in the field during their useful life-time and during biodegradation

Current Education and Research Infrastructure in bio-based materials ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering ATR, DSC..

Current Education and Research Infrastructure in bio-based materials ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering

Current Education and Research Infrastructure ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Quality of products In AUA research infrastructure concerning food quality has been established and comprises of various experimental set–ups related to post-harvest processing In cooperation with the Animal Science Department of AUA, animal housing facilities are accessible and used as education and research infrastructure for the needs of Animal Welfare issues

Current Education and Research Infrastructure in quality of products ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering

Active research groups and relevant research projects ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Bio-fuels In AUA on-going research takes place on application of bio-fuels and production of biogas Relevant research projects:  Alternative fuels for industrial gas turbines (EU funded)  Experimental study of the use of crude vegetable oils as fuels in internal combustion engines of agricultural machines ( funded by the Greek Ministry of Education)  Rural sustainable development through Integration of Renewable Energy Sources in poor European regions (EU funded )  Pellets Atlas: Development and promotion of a transparent European Pellets Market – Creation of a European real-time Pellets Atlas (EU funded) In AUTh research takes place in the areas of hydrogen and methane production, along with production of biodiesel and bio-ethanol

Active research groups and relevant research projects ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Bio-based materials In AUA there is currently work undertaken on various research topics concerning the design, applications and behaviour-evaluation and testing of bio-based materials

Active research groups and relevant research projects ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Bio-based materials Relevant research projects: ‘Development of innovative biodegradable packaging system to improve shelf life, quality and safety of high-value sensitive horticultural fresh produce’ (EU funded) ‘Mechanisms of the biodegradation in soil of biodegradable polymers designed for agricultural applications’ (EU funded) ‘Labelling agricultural plastic waste for valorising the waste stream’ (EU funded) ‘Biodegradable drip irrigation system’ (funded by the Hellenic General Secretariat for Research and Technology) ‘Study of combined photochemical degradation and possible biodegradation in soil of polyethylene with pro-oxidants mulching films’ (funded by the Hellenic Ministry of Education) ‘New biodegradable plastics for mulching and low-tunnel cultivation’ (EU funded)

Active research groups and relevant research projects ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Quality of products A research group is active working within AUA on the postharvest area Research projects concern: dehumidification of fresh agricultural products during cold storage, during refrigerated storage and during air drying modified atmosphere (active or passive) in whole and cut agricultural products Since the 90’s, in AUA there has been systematic research effort, either basic or applied, put onto the issue of animal (swine and sheep) thermal heat- stress

Current situation of Biosystems Engineering and perspectives in the Greek market ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Bio-fuels In Greece, liquid bio-fuel market has been active for the last 3 years. EU Directive 2003/30/EC (increase of bio-fuel percentage up to 5.75% until 2010) led to a change of the Greek legislation and gave the opportunity to several investors to get involved in the liquid bio-fuel industry At the moment there are 14 active industries that produce bio-diesel and 5 industries that only export solid bio-fuels and especially wood and mixed biomass pellets

ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Bio-based materials The market of bio-based materials in Greece is today at its early stages of development, especially in agricultural applications However, the potential of this market is very high (no statistics available) and several industries try already to enter the market of biodegradable packaging, biodegradable shopping bags and in a few cases in agricultural applications The development of the market of bio-based materials is expected to develop rapidly over the next decade because of environmental issues, the relevant public pressure and the oil price Current situation of Biosystems Engineering and perspectives in the Greek market

Current situation and perspectives in the market ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering Quality of products A booming market has emerged during the last decade in the area of food quality and hygiene because: (1)Legislation was imposed following European directives and concerning the local market as well as the products designated to be exported (2)Changes took place in the nutritional habits as well the planning of the parenthood With regards to animal welfare graduates are placed in the market as employees of public organizations or private enterprises involved in the implementation of the compulsory cross-compliance

Thank you for your attention! Dept. of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering ERABEE 2 nd Workshop, Dublin