Transition to bioenergy: Engineering and technology undergraduate students’ perceptions of and readiness for agricultural waste-based bioenergy in Greece

Abstract

Bioenergy, an interdisciplinary and region-specific sector, constitutes a strong market player with high growth prospects in the energy transition field. Bioenergy engineering education is essential in building a knowledgeable workforce that can drive the bioenergy sector, understand societal needs, and provide solutions to complex, interconnected challenges, with breakthroughs in technology. This paper aims to investigate the awareness of and readiness for bioenergy that Greek engineering and technology education undergraduate students have. A tailor-made questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 200 students at two institutions located in two regions of Greece. Students demonstrated positive perceptions regarding bioenergy implementation in their regions, regardless of their place of origin, family status, or gender. Based on the findings, students believed that, if plants and systems are sustainable and well-designed, bioenergy does not present environmental or health risks. However, students lacked awareness regarding existing bioenergy plants, and the media appeared to be the primary source of information for most respondents. Since these students will be engineers and managers in the future, their perceptions and communication can largely determine the success of implementing bioenergy plants and can have a positive impact on their social acceptance. Recommendations were provided for revisions to university curricula, integrating holistic sustainability and creativity (innovation and entrepreneurship) so as to develop a transformative bioenergy education course. For a country still recovering from the trauma of the financial crisis, bioenergy can offer new job opportunities and limit the brain drain of young engineers, as long as the socio-technical system (with its current resources and configurations) can create transition pathways along with education. Keywords: Bioenergy, Engineering education, Perception, Awareness, Sustainability, Curricula