FutureLearn

Understanding Biological Energy (FutureLearn)

Offered by Royal Holloway, University of London,

Get an introduction to energy and explore how humans and other living things obtain and use their biological energy sources. Discover applications of biological energy, from human energy to photosynthesis. On this course, you’ll learn what energy actually is and how living things acquire and convert it.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

You’ll find out how biological energy is stored and released in fossil fuels and what advances in agriculture mean for feeding the world’s growing population.
As you explore biological energy in industry, you’ll consider the ways science can help us to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels as well as ways we might use and learn from plants to provide energy in the future.
You’ll also discover the concept of ‘energy overload’ and how it is threatening our bodies’ energy balance today.
What topics will you cover?

Introduction to energy: How living things use energy; A brief history of thermodynamics; Enthalpy, entropy and free energy
Human energy: Humans as chemotrophs; Chemical energy from food; Mitochondria; ion gradients and ATP
Photosynthesis: Green plants and autotrophic bacteria; Solar energy to food; Oxygenation and evolution
Industrial energy: Fossil fuels; Biomass; Artificial photosynthesis

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Describe what energy is and how concepts of energy, enthalpy and entropy were developed
Summarise how humans obtain, convert and store energy
Describe oxygenic photosynthesis and its ecological significance
Compare biologically-derived energy sources, both renewable and non-renewable

Who is the course for?
This course is designed for young learners who have studied at least GCSE science (chemistry, biology, or physics) and are interested in pursuing the connections between these subjects.
It will be of particular interest to those looking to study the life sciences at university level.
The course is also suitable for those who are simply interested in how living things store and use energy.

Go to Class

MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Coursera

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology - KAIST

Biochemical Principles of Energy Metabolism (Coursera)

Sci: Biology & Life Sciences

Everyone knows that energy is essential for sustaining life. How can you define energy in life? Have ever thought about ways of how carbohydrates like glucose from your diet can be used for extracting energy? A scientific field that focuses on energy production and flow though living cells and organisms is called bioenergetics. Energy metabolism covers various biochemical ways of energy transformation and regulatory mechanisms of over thousands chemical reactions. Without fine control of those metabolic processes, cells and organisms cannot maintain activities linked to life.

Jun 22nd 2026

5-12 Weeks

Health Biochemistry Photosynthesis

FutureLearn

University of Leeds

Renewable Energy: Achieving Sustainability through Bioenergy (FutureLearn)

Sci: Environment

Understand the principles of bioenergy and learn how to harness this form of renewable energy to achieve sustainability. Learn about the principles and environmental implications of bioenergy. On this two week course, you will explore bioenergy, one of the most diverse and readily available sources of renewable energy. You’ll look into what types of biomass can be used and how sustainable energy solutions can be developed in a wide range of communities.

Sep 23rd 2024

2 Weeks

Sustainability Renewable Energy Biomass Energy

Coursera

University of Colorado Boulder

Non-Equilibrium Applications of Statistical Thermodynamics (Coursera)

Engineering

Course 5 of Statistical Thermodynamics explores three different applications of non-equilibrium statistical thermodynamics. The first is the transport behavior of ideal gases, with some discussion of transport in dense gases and liquids. It starts with simple estimates of the transport properties of an ideas gas. It then introduces the Boltzmann Equation and describes the Chapman-Enskog solution of that equation in order to obtain the transport properties. It closes with a discussion of practical sources of transport properties.

Jun 22nd 2026

3 Weeks

Thermodynamics Mechanical Engineering Solids

FutureLearn

KIC InnoEnergy

Battery Storage: Understanding the Battery Revolution (FutureLearn)

Engineering Science

Learn about the importance of energy storage and understand the role of batteries and battery technology. Learn about the importance of energy storage. What is energy storage, and why is it so important? On this course, you will learn about the most promising energy storage technologies, such as batteries, and how they can affect the future of the transportation and power sectors. As you’ll see, the rising global demand for a stable energy supply requires flexible energy storage.

Available now

3 Weeks

Energy Renewable Energy Batteries

Coursera

UNSW Sydney - University of New South Wales

Mechanics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Gravity, from Particles to Planets (Coursera)

Sci: Physical & Earth Sciences Sci: Physics

Most of the phenomena in the world around you are, at the fundamental level, based on physics, and much of physics is based on mechanics. Mechanics begins by quantifying motion, and then explaining it in terms of forces, energy and momentum. This allows us to analyse the operation of many familiar phenomena around us, but also the mechanics of planets, stars and galaxies.

Jun 22nd 2026

5-12 Weeks

Universe Physics Energy

Coursera

Georgia Institute of Technology

Material Processing (Coursera)

Engineering

Have you ever wondered why ceramics are hard and brittle while metals tend to be ductile? Why some materials conduct heat or electricity while others are insulators? Why adding just a small amount of carbon to iron results in an alloy that is so much stronger than the base metal? In this course, you will learn how a material’s properties are determined by the microstructure of the material, which is in turn determined by composition and the processing that the material has undergone.

Jun 22nd 2026

2 Weeks

Thermodynamics Mechanical Engineering Crystal Structures

Coursera

University at Buffalo,The State University of New York

Safety in the Utility Industry (Coursera)

Engineering

This course arms you with basic utility industry safety knowledge. You will be educated about personal protective equipment, fire safety, hazardous materials and their symbols. You will gain insights to recognize the importance of a safe work environment.

Jun 22nd 2026

4 Weeks

Management Energy Engineering

FutureLearn

University of Groningen

Solving the Energy Puzzle: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Energy Transition (FutureLearn)

Economics & Finance Law

Learn how to analyse energy transition cases from technological, legal, economics, spatial, and social perspectives. Since the discovery of fire, mankind has used various energy sources to aid our development. The energy system has been continually changing, as the economy and technology progress. Today, energy systems are confronted with pressing global challenges: climate protection; economic and social development; poverty eradication; adequate food production; health for all; and the conservation of ecosystems, peace and security. A major transformation – an energy transition - is required to address these challenges.

No sessions available

5-12 Weeks

Sustainability Energy Energy Transition

FutureLearn

Pennsylvania State University

Energy, the Environment and Our Future (FutureLearn)

Sci: Energy & Earth Sciences Sci: Environment

Learn where we get our energy from today and why we need to change our energy system now, to avoid future changes to our climate. Our ancestors burned trees and whales far faster than nature produced more, gaining good from the energy but causing big problems. Today we burn fossil fuels, which allows us to live well, but will cause even bigger problems in the future.

No sessions available

5-12 Weeks

Global Warming Energy Environment

Coursera

University of Colorado Boulder

Fundamentals of Macroscopic and Microscopic Thermodynamics (Coursera)

Engineering

Course 1 first explores the basics of both macroscopic and microscopic thermodynamics from a postulatory point of view. In this view, the meaning of temperature, thermodynamic pressure and chemical potential are especially clear and easy to understand. In addition, the development of the Fundamental Relation and its various transformations leads to a clear path to property relations and to the concept of ensembles needed to understand the relationship between atomic and molecular structural properties and macroscopic properties.

Jun 22nd 2026

3 Weeks

Chemistry Thermodynamics Fluid Mechanics

FutureLearn

EIT InnoEnergy

Battery Storage Technology: Opportunities and Uses (FutureLearn)

Engineering Business

Explore battery storage technology - how and why it works, and how it could revolutionise the European energy landscape. Could battery storage technology be the answer to energy demands? Imbalances in power supply, combined with rising energy demands pose a growing risk. But the emerging field of ‘battery storage’ could be the solution.

No sessions available

3 Weeks

Energy Electricity Batteries

FutureLearn

The Open University

The Science of Nuclear Energy (FutureLearn)

Sci: Energy & Earth Sciences

Discover the science behind nuclear energy and its role in energy provision in the past, present and future. Understand the science of nuclear power and the arguments for and against it. With the need to reduce carbon emissions around the world, the way we generate our power has to change and nuclear energy is back on the political agenda.

No sessions available

4 Weeks

Energy Electricity Nuclear Energy