Sustainable development : the roles of carbon and bio carbon : an introduction to molecular sciences Preface: Why take an interest in carbon Carbon around us Molecules and their structure Elemental carbon : modern materials Mineral carbon Natural gas and biogas Heat and entropy of reaction Strong bonds weak bonds Fossil carbon : source of energy and modern materials Fossil carbon : a source of medicines Chirality Plant biomass : our greatest asset Syngas and its transformations. Due to overconsumption of fossil carbon humanity faces four major problems: global warming decrease of biodiversity pollution of the biosphere and the degradation of agriculture soils. It is not enough to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by stopping the consumption of fossil carbon; it is also urgent to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In order to understand the challenges outlined above a minimal knowledge of the most important carbon compounds and their transformations is an asset. This textbook is therefore an introduction to the molecular sciences and shows how we depend on carbon compounds what they are and how they are transformed