Abstract:

For the last few years, the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) has made an active effort on improving the sustainability within the university with the development of multidisciplinary programs directed to approach the subject as a teaching/learning opportunity for the whole university community so our students have a chance to integrate and assimilate these concepts and help to make a difference. In the Gipuzkoa Engineering School, the students of the Bachelor Degree in Renewable Energy Engineering have a specific formation in energy obtaining from biomass (Bioenergy). In the frame of one the mentioned programs called “Campus Bizia Lab” (Living Campus Lab), we designed a Project Based Learning experience for this subject using active learning tools. As at the moment the heating system of the Engineering Faculty building relays on fossil fuels, in the context of this subject, the students were asked to work on a proposal to set up and biomass based heating system in the university building complex and study the viability of such project from the sustainability, environmental and economic point of view. This starting point was used as an opportunity to introduce the basic learning foundations on the subject followed by a direct application of this knowledge. Giving the students the opportunity of working in actual cases located in their immediate surroundings and to form them with the professional calculation tools necessary to perform the mentioned study such as QGIS, increases the students’ motivation. The University is located in an area rich in forest and biomass resources with a well developed wood industry, so the students had a chance to see the extent of the impact of using the local available energetic resources, particularly lignocellulosic biomass, could have on the sustainability of, not just the university community, but for the whole society.

Keywords:

Open software, Sustainable development in engineering studies, Renewable energy.