ENERGY GB.qxd
Contents
1. Siif nergies CNRS IN2P3 Reorganizing energy systems and changing economies and societies necessitate taking into account the requirements of sustainable development Today in order to meet these challenges studies must be conducted from a socio economical and even sociological viewpoint in addition to research of a purely technological nature Thus energy labelling how citizens perceive energy saving and the use of renewable energy types or on the contrary the constraints related to collective risks subsurface waste disposal have given rise to citizen acceptability issues Microhydraulic dam Lisor T 91 sample tube This device des igned for studying various structural mate rials subjected to radiation in contact with liquid metals and under mechanical constraint has been developed within the framework of the G d on Research Grouping waste management through new options from the PACE program 26 Citizen acceptability of renewable energies A branch of research in human and social sciences consists in Identifying the obstacles to introducing new renewable energy resources Sociologists conduct qualitative studies which are an essential preliminary to better understanding why these types of energy have such a poor image The eco nomic context therefore has considerable impact on the hierarchy of collec tive preoccupations of dominant energy low cost versus secondary energy thought to be more expe2. 700 C known as high temperature cells PEMFCs could replace thermal engines in transportation and electric stor age cells in portable electronic equipment which would be beneficial due to factors such as instant rechargeability 5 to 10 times more energy density 2 to 5 times more autonomy A hydrogen oxygen cell element provides constant voltage of the order of 1V Researchers are investigating combina tions of these elements parallel series and the addition of electronic interfaces to regulate voltage and if required to transform voltage into alternating mode Furthermore developments in microelectronic technolo gies have made it possible to produce electric current densities ranging from 70 to 100 mA cm for microcells SOFCs would allow stationary energy production with minimal pollution and a high electrical efficiency signifi cantly enhanced by co generation technique Already 5 to 10kW units have been shown to produce domestic electricity and heat or cold from natural gas Numerous problems for each of these applications membranes catalysts interconnection materials still need to be resolved before marketing be comes a possibility New cell core components need to be developed and new concepts of heat and fluid management have to be implemented in cell cores Finally the problem of fuel supply still needs to be solved in particu lar hydrogen availability for PEMFCs Reliability and lifetime issues especially fo
3. BSISISISJE DOO DIOC O OSIE Z DOLLS GISISJS 1997 OOO 9 GIOIOSO o oo OUUGAUBDOEGSEZ SSS NSE OULUODPOOEBZE os 0 000 yOUSd d 030d SYNI ENERGY Energy and sustainable development Resources Conversions Energy carriers Uses Socio economic impact Strategy and prospects CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE 20 24 Zo Energy and sustainable development The global energy context Mastering future energy requirements and ensuring their supply is one of the major political issues facing the whole planet It is made even more diffi cult by the double challenge facing the human race firstly how to meet the energy needs of a world population which will grow even further in coming decades and a large part of which expects social and economic development involving a greater demand for energy secondly the need to decrease green house gas emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels and emissions of other pollutant gases which threaten global climatic and environmental balances This is the whole issue of sustainable development where the word develop ment is no less important than the idea of our responsibilities to future gener ations as implied by the notion of sustainability in its three dimensions economic social and environmental At present two billion human beings have access to only traditional forms of energy derived from wood and animal waste At
4. French com panies in the photovoltaic sector To lower the cost and increase the effectiveness of existing technologies based on crystalline silicon modules CNRS researchers are working on the phenomena of impurity diffusion purification of materials and passiv ation of structural defects Ultimately the aim Is to facilitate the integration of photovoltaic components into electricity networks aiming for a cost of 0 10 euro kWh A number of processes have already been transferred to industry The target for the future Is to obtain returns on cell conversions in the order of 18 to 20 by making efficient use of raw materials in indus trial processes with an emphasis on thin plates lt 100 um in thickness Promising alternatives investigated by CNRS laboratories in the framework of industrial development concern the use of thin layers of semiconductor materials crystalline and amorphous silicon chalcogenides on various substrates glass metal ceramic Research work is focussed on crystallog enesis transport properties and the manufacture of test cells The use of low cost polymer based organic materials is also a consideration in the area of photovoltaic conversion Work based on polymer films polythio phene polyacetylene combined with interconnected networks of fullerene derivatives has had promising results Further investigations are needed to better understand the photovoltaic element at a fundamental level and to develop t
5. as double skin devices which appear to improve insulation perfor mance while allowing the integration of a variety of systems photovoltaic sensors for example Research into novel components integrated into wall systems is underway In these devices and inside buildings natural or controlled ventilation and management of air movement are also determin ing factors Research is underway in laboratories with the aim of better understanding the mechanisms of these movements in order to model and control them In such a way as to create optimal conditions of comfort whilst minimizing energy consumption SZAN Clean and efficient car engines Certam CORIA Over the next twenty years the internal combustion engine will still be the main source of power for automobiles For this reason environmental issues are of great importance to motorists on three levels reducing pollutant emissions from combustion in line with 2005 standards and to combat the greenhouse effect reducing consumption and decreasing levels of noise pollution Scientific issues are leading to the development of two main areas of research Combustion in a direct fuel injection engine Stabilization of a flame using plasma 22 New modes of combustion For several years now the combustion of lean mixtures with stratified equiv alence ratio accompanied by direct injection is the work horse of research ers aiming in particular to reduce the p
6. bio fuels throughout Europe with a market share of 5 75 by 2010 Meeting this forecast would entail a bio fuel demand of 3 Mtoe in France and of 18 Mtoe in Europe Mtoe Million tons oil equivalent The significant value in France of agricultural or forest biomass resources would allow the dedi cation of a land area of 4 million hectares to the active cultivation of energy crops contributing an annual production of 10 Mtoe This situation which is quite realistic could generate a 24 million ton saving in CO emissions by comparison to the use of fossil energy l corversions Context and Issues 10 Focus Energy Seen from the perspective of their ultimate use primary energy types require conversion in a different form of energy or transforma tion evolution of the same form of energy The combustion of fossil resources and waste as well as nuclear fission are the main processes involved in these conversions the heat produced drives electricity pro ducing turbines Heat exchangers are needed to extract heat from the core of the reactors and to transfer it to the turbines They have long been the subject of multi disciplinary study at the CNRS within the fra mework of generic research They are one of the key economic factors of the processes and research is directed towards multifunctional exchangers Integrating new materials Nuclear fission which does not create greenhouse gas emission nevertheless produces radioa
7. conditions similar to those of large tokamaks and to develop associated diagnostic techniques CNRS Phototheque Photo D Wallon In this experimental facility at LULI six high power laser beams can be focused on a target of several hundred microns in order to study laser plasma interaction equations of state and the atomic physics of hot dense plasmas The magnetic confinement process In this process a mixture of deuterium and tritium in a hot plasma state is confined by magnetic fields in machines known as tokamak reactors France is a candidate for hosting the international ITER project a very large size tokamak One of its objectives will be to control over long time periods 500 seconds plasmas producing fusion energy ten times greater than the energy injected CNRS whose excellence in the field of hot plasma physics is internationally recognized is involved in the basic physics of this major project CNRS laboratories in association with the CEA French Atomic Energy Authority are working on plasma stability properties and heating as well as on the development of appropriate diagnostics This work concentrates on the understanding and control of plasma wall interactions turbulence and its impact on thermal transport the genera tion of continuous current as well as the dynamics of suprathermal popu lations in the thermonuclear regime The ITER project should also enable researchers to examine other r
8. electricity production biomass and geothermal energy These areas will require the most significant scientific and technological breakthroughs The photovoltaic electricity market is growing fast 35 per year despite relatively high costs and performance levels that still need considerable improvement CNRS is involved in particular in research efforts on thin film deposit techniques and on innovative processes such as organic PV cells The exploitation of biomass by pyrolysis and gasification is based on thermochemical conversion It must be improved to attain high quality biomass gasification as a means of generating bio fuel quality hydrogen synthesis gas Enzymatic and micro biological transformation of wet processed biomass residues is another process under development at CNRS Research into bio fuel bio ethanol production in the short term and into bio diesels in the medium term is being conducted in parallel with research on biological production of hydrogen Thermal photovoltaic and solar energy Energy generated via a photovoltaic process based on the conversion of solar radiation into electricity is seen to be strate gic for sustalnable development It is therefore essential to main tain and even increase not only market stimulation measures but also the associated research and development effort CNRS has initiated research activity on existing or emerging materials and also accompanies the technological development of
9. the fuel of cap tive transport fleets The production of bio fuels is an interesting alternative to petroleum Problems derived from this include the acceptability of agricul ture for industrial purposes and the perfect management of forests Vehicles must be made lighter new materials calculation of structures etc and transport modalities must be revised in order for these research efforts to remain valid As regards electricity the development of renewable energy resources leads to decentralized production with low power generators and for certain sources intermittent production This gives rise to problems relative to stor age to the distribution networks and to linking up with the major European and national networks Wind energy already exploited can be further developed However waste and biomass combustion results in the co generation of electricity and heat Transporting this form of energy over long distances is a crucial research point Even If high power natural gas plants are a very interesting alternative nuclear energy cannot be ignored in the short term Very active research on waste processing and on new generation reactors may offer acceptable solu tions for society These reactors must be safe reliable resistant to the risk of nuclear proliferation economical and sustainable Finally the ITER program on thermonuclear fusion must be commenced as soon as possible to enable a solution for the future to be envisag
10. the same time the average consumption of an American is 14 MWh a year while that of a European is 6 MWh and that of a Chinese or an Indian around 1 MWh a year Furthermore 85 of energy needs are met today by fossil fuels coal oil 085 all producing greenhouse gas emissions Even despite the fact that the first measures to limit gas emissions within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol which aims for an average 5 reduction between 2008 and 2012 compared with emission rates for 1990 will not be met the energy demand is expected nearly to double by 2050 because of emerging countries such as China India or Brazil whose main energy reserves are coal based The issues behind energy production methods and their fair distribution are therefore critical for the human race Sustainable development implies a double approach in this context steps must be taken firstly towards reducing energy consumption and secondly towards replacing fossil fuels with new sources of energy Production methods depend on political decisions directly influenced by energy availability and costs population growth and economic development decisions made even more difficult because as history has shown If energy consumption increases along with gross domestic product these two figures become to some extent unrelated and their ratio can fluc tuate significantly from one country to another CNRS research and action Research in the energy sector is therefore an es
11. Anne Solweig Gremillet Image search Marie Auffray Graphic design and layout for the french version Laura Slawig Adaptation of the graphic design for the present edition Sarah Landel Translation A business world Printed by Caract re February 2005 We would like to thank Cyrille Le D aut for his participation OOOOOUOOOGOOGOUOOOOGOOGOGO DOISIGIGIGIOIGIGIGIGIGIGISISI SIDI Wee OOOO OUD Be GO WwWw cnrs fr ooo o00 OOOOOUOUOOOOOOGOUOOUOOOOGPOULGGO OOOOOOOOOOOOCOODOOOOODOG OC OOOO OCOOOOQOOCOON o Bs 22000 2000000090 09006 OUUOOULOUGCOUGOUOUGOUGLOUGLGU OUQOUDGOUGLGOUGOUGCOUGOUOUOOUGOGU A CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE 3 RUE MICHEL ANGE 75794 PARIS CEDEX 16 TEL 01 44 96 40 00 e T L COPIE 01 44 96 53 90 I
12. age This example highlights the role played today by citizen controversies on the presentation and political management of public problems Certain authorities have become Increasingly unavoidable for the formulation of policies as a result For example the OPECST French Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices is regularly questioned about issues i e nuclear that were previously treated confi dentially and principally in a regulatory fashion This system has led to the implementation of new consultative procedures the aim of which is to make certain technological projects acceptable by rewarding the network of actors Involved and by favoring decision reversibility Public policies and negotiations This field of research includes economic and technological ques tions as well as a quest for equity between the various countries Researchers can help communities to determine how efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can be shared and therefore the cost thereof between the various countries and present and future generations International negotiations The question of the policies that need to be adopted and measures that need to be taken arises as soon as quantified objectives are set internationally as regards gas emissions Some of the research work conducted over the past years Involves the choice of the mode of coordination i e price versus quan tity permits versus taxes Thus dur
13. al emissions must not exceed half of current emission levels Research programs on energy will have to come up with major solutions to meet these imperatives Since the first energy crisis in 1973 CNRS has long been involved in human and social sciences research on energy This strong momentum must be maintained in order to assess In association with engineering sciences distribution possibilities for energy technologies when faced with radical emission restrictions Furthermore public policies must be implemented with a view to accelerating the process of converting our energy systems to meet objectives The new conditions will entail research work concerning the evolu tion of companies towards energy systems subjected to these restric tions in all fields of human and social sciences technical and economic feasibility for global power at low emission levels national measures of public policies enabling European objectives as well as those of the Kyoto Protocol to be met evolution of the energy demand in the long term and understanding the links between energy systems and eco nomic development environmental and transport issues incentives and obstacles to innovation in the energy sector the question of citizen acceptability of subsurface disposal of nuclear waste energy savings and renewable energy resources Evaluation and prospects In the domains of energy assessment and prospects CNRS researchers are confronted with n
14. alysis of precise technological domains i e renew able energy energy transformation techniques and biomass exploitation methods which will be extended to carbon capturing techniques Researchers also study simulation tools energy Innovations such as voluntary agreements adoption subsidies market enlargement by public demand administered purchasing tariffs green certification and green pricing to determine the efficacy thereof whether the regime Is a monop oly or competitive Evaluation of the efficiency of research and development strategies for sustainable development is based on comparative analysis of the efficacy of national innovation systems Involving public action as well as company innovation strategies according to anticipated environmental measures and energy prices Socio economic impact 28 Strategy and prospects Analysis of the determining factors of the energy demand implies taking into account four criteria i e energy independence the impact on the envi ronment of carbon emissions in the context of climate change the Increase in demand not only in developing countries aspiring to increased industrializa tion but also in countries belonging to the OECD and finally the foresee able decrease in fossil resources in the second half of the 21st century The answer to the first three criteria is all the more difficult as the energy demand is expected to double in 2050 which implies dividing current CO emiss
15. ces as well as improving and innovating on existing technologies reforming of hydrocar bons and gasification of carbon Indeed demand is strong for low cost low flowrate compact reformers with powerful kinetics that are compatible with several fuel types for localized or on board applications In the long term 15 to 30 years CNRS intends to develop new solutions and technologies for hydrogen production in large quantities centralized or delo calized and most importantly low polluting The cycle times in this domain are lengthy and as Is already the case in the United States and Japan it is essential to begin research and development R amp D immediately on these new areas in order to reach maturity In approximately twenty years Hydrogen storage CNRS is conducting research on various methods of storage with the aim of producing realistic prototypes and developing them industrially Liquefied Hy and high pressure gt 70 MPa methods are operational however there are still problems linked to cost structural and material damage and safety No satisfactory solution has been found for automotive applications and CNRS is working on two potential methods that involve materials with a high storage capacity low pressure 0 2 MPa adsorption reaction in intermetal alloys and adsorption on medium pres sure 10 20 MPa carbon nanostructures The obstacle is being able to obtain these materials and their associated storage sy
16. chitecture of converters Another field of original research concerns the switching of high currents by limiting the losses and drops in voltage on the output of fuel cells and photovoltaic devices Finally the use of high tem perature supraconductive materials within cables or protective casing is also being studied for specific applications Electricity storage which is impossible in the current context will be required at certain points in the network to minimize Intermittent supply High power buffer batteries and for example super condensers will be needed for that purpose Another aspect of electrical energy storage is being consid ered for low power small scale applications This involves electrochemical mechanical or even electromagnetic methods which make it possible to maintain the energy supply whatever the operating conditions of the produc tion units lack of wind or sun disconnection of a supplier In the case of land transportation high capacity batteries are being studied as storage elements for the electric engines of hybrid vehicles 818 EE CNRS Photos L Villegas G Germani C Mirodatos CNRS LIMHP UPR1311 Hydrogen Hydrogen seems to be a promising potential carrier to respond to energy supply issues of the future because it is suited to the majority of primary energy sources for its production fossil hydrocarbons in the short term and renewable resources in the medium term Downstream it app
17. ctive half life of tens of thousands of years into elements with a much shorter half life which would make their radiotoxicity far more manageable his research work comes under the second section of the PACE program Waste incineration Nuclear reactors currently function by the fission of uranium 235 which is present in 0 7 of natural uranium The production of energy is inevitably accompanied by the production of radioactive and radiotoxic elements In the long run and schematically the most dangerous of these are the iso topes of plutonium along with those of neptunium americium and curium three elements known as minor actinides Their half life the duration over which their activity decreases by half can reach several tens of thousands of years The production of these wastes is due to the high concentration of uranium 238 in the heart of reactors In the past decade research has been carried out on the disposal of these nuclei via transmutation that Is by bring ing about their fission in reactors specifically designed for this purpose These dangerous nucle would then be transformed into nuclei with much Shorter life spans which would quickly become harmless For safety rea sons linked to the neutronic properties of the elements which are to be transmuted incineration reactors will have to be subcritical to maintain the chain reaction they would have to be fed continuously by an external source o
18. ctive waste requiring treatment and end of use storage Within the framework of the PACE program program for the electronuclear cycle end point CNRS is developing solutions capable of improving waste disposal and storage safety The organiza tion also works on new methods of production for the nuclear energy of the future less polluting nuclear processes and provides support to the CEA French Atomic Energy Authority on the ITER project thermo nuclear fusion project Energy conversion by combustion often has low efficiency levels leading to the production of greenhouse gases CO CH and polluting gases and the discharge of high levels of energy in the form of heat which ought to be recycled The need to optimize the integration of pro cesses leads to research on ways to maximize useful energy and on concepts of coproduction To this end criteria based on the quantity and quality of energy used are being developed by the CNRS school of ther modynamics to determine the exergetic efficiency a far more precise basis for analysis than energy efficiency CNRS favors the development of these industrial processes of the future with two imperatives the minimization of the production of greenhouse gases as well as their destruction at the source or their storage Accumulation and storage of waste Prompted by the Bataille law on nuclear waste management CNRS set up the interdisciplinary PACE program dedicated to research on the d
19. d the related problem of hydrogen storage Low temperature thermal collection associated with the photovoltaic pro cess could fulfil thermal needs for habitats and the tertiary industry at low cost In the future it will integrate storage units with low flowrate exchang ers or heatpipe as well as systems dedicated to heat management CNRS is working on liquid and solid sorption processes capable of increasing the quantity of heat introduced raising its thermal potential or producing cold all the while including the storage function and significant power variations The processes will be integrated into advanced home automation which will ensure the balance between real needs and resources The development of the co generation of heat and work and the existence of sources of thermal energy such as incineration plants which are used inappropriately or not used at all mean that new methods need to be con sidered for transporting heat Indeed the urban heat networks transporting hot water or steam in the form of sensible heat cannot be extended in length without a risk of significant thermal loss The cold distribution net works in the form of latent heat must still be perfected to attain accept able savings on commercial or residential sites A long distance transport method design property of CNRS enables a real interconnection between resources and demand the circulation of a gas In a closed circuit using endothermic and exothe
20. e geomechanical geophysical and geochemical condi tions needed for the storage of radioactive waste in deep geological layers in this case clay The task of CNRS ts to record the initial state of the site the nature and state of the traversed rock layers to determine and characterize the damaged zone and to assess the retention capacities and healing properties as well as the absence of fracturing These characteristics depend largely on the presence and properties of the water in the vicinity of the site whose under lying history on a geological scale is supplied by the Isotopic analysis of interstitial waters The difficulty in collecting ground water linked to the very low permeability of the site s clay makes it essential to develop speci fic techniques Knowing the porosity and the permeability of the zone in question gives important indications on potential radioelement migration outside the site Disturbances induced by the drilling of wells are identified monitored and quantified Finally the absence of any faults and seismicity in a site planned to hold radioactive waste over a time scale on the order of one hundred thousand years must be established 8818 corversion IPN Orsay CEA Waste processing One of the elements of the Bataille law recommends the search for transmutation processes for radioactive waste his would entail the reactor transformation of elements with low energy content and a radioa
21. ears to be an ideal source of chemical energy for fuel cells internal combustion engines and in the field of pollu tion control View of a catalytic process of hydrogen production on a structured reactor from the nanoscopic scale monolith crosspiece in honeycomb covered with its catalytic layer figure 1 to the laboratory reactor equivalent to a power of 1 kW figure 3 via the overall structure of the monolith figure 2 1 The catalytic decomposition of ethylene dissociated at 600 C on an iron copper catalyzer leads preferentially to carbon nanofibers 2 um in length 70 nm in outer diameter 2 Close up of the previous photo Observation of carbon planes in a nanofiber Hydrogen production by chemical and catalytic processes Low cost hydrogen production currently exists for large tonnages on indus trial sites However the investment is prohibitive when the quantity of hydrogen to be produced is small lt 500 m as is the case for fuel cells and on site applications range 0 300 m h Besides current production techniques make use of fossil energy sources and therefore release carbon dioxide that is harmful to the environment For the short and medium term 5 to 15 years CNRS is setting out to pre pare future production processes for sustainable development bioproduc tion of hydrogen gasification of biomass thermochemical cycles advanced electrolysis based on the use of renewable energy sour
22. ed from 2050 onwards In the medium term i e from 2015 to 2020 two types of production sys tems photovoltaic and hydrogen may become exploitable on condition that research be intensified leading to technological breakthroughs Photovoltaic production the cost of which decreases year by year will be used increasingly for decentralized energy production and combined with thermal solar energy for residential tertiary sector requirements The hydrogen sector undoubtedly has a future if its production using natu ral gas then electrolysis thermochemical cycles or even micro algae stor age for future use and transport can be mastered Mastering the use of fuel cells and in particular the decrease in their cost irrespective of whether they are stationary or portable still requires major research and technological efforts However hydrogen is the energy carrier of the future given that fuel cells do not emit greenhouse gas and that they have the potential to be used for the production of electricity and heat with a very high overall turnover and as vehicle engines The capture and storage of CO which form an integral part of the CNRS program will mostly be carried out within the framework of the CO club initiated by the ADEME French Agency for Environment and Energy Management and coordinated by the BRGM French Bureau of Geological and Mining Research Thus in the long term the response to the four criteria could be a c
23. elated areas of interest for a future experi mental reactor and to Involve disciplines such as material physics and nuclear physics The inertial confinement fusion process In the inertial fusion process laser beams or particle beams compress a mixture of deuterium and tritium enclosed in a capsule thus producing a dense and hot plasma The thermonuclear combustion of this plasma occurs In less than a billionth of a second CNRS has been supporting basic research on this process for over twenty years now in matters of theory numerical modelling and experiments The organization operates a high power laser facility the Laboratory for the Use of Intense Lasers LULI which is also a major European instrument The experimental work carried out at the LULI facility focuses on high intensity laser plasma interactions non linear or relativistic aiming for the analysis of laser heating thermal transport hydrodynamics the equations of state of hot dense matter the atomic physics of hot plasmas and highly ionized states in conditions close to those found in stellar plasmas CO combustion and capture Combustion remains the most widely used means to convert energy for use In transportation industry and the tertiary sector but it contributes to a significant share of environmental degrada tion at a planetary level by releasing greenhouse gases and large quantities of pollutants nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides dioxins part
24. ess Research conducted by CNRS on bio ethanol especially concerns the enlargement of the spectrum of sugars fermentable in ethanol the use of new raw materials and the de sign and production of more powerful biocatalysts This molecular physiology and microbiological approach will increase the performance of the ethanol producing micro organisms generally yeast Research into biodiesels some of which canola methyl esters have already been marketed is cur rently evolving towards enzymatic transformation as an alternative to chem ical methods and towards perfecting oilseed plants by altering their lipidic composition for a better quality of fuel Algae can be used to produce hydrogen from the photodissociation of water This reaction is limited however by the extra sensitivity of hydrogenases with regard to oxygen Two methods are being investigated to overcome this problem Firstly the separation in time and or space of the production of hydrogen and the photolysis of water Secondly the creation of hydroge nases that are not sensitive to oxygen by site directed mutagenesis This will only become possible with a better knowledge of the structure and function ing of the enzyme crystallography Understanding the functional and structural relationship of the hydrogenase will also allow the design of bio catalysts and artificial catalysts by a biomimetic approach The new regulatory environment envisages an increase in the marketing of
25. ew challenges he energy perspective sees its time horizon moving further away we know for example that issues linked to the greenhouse effect must be considered over the very long term and they are becoming more complex due to the very moderate implementation of public poli cies both nationally and internationally climate convention Evaluation and comparison of technological processes The problem researchers are faced with is testing how this reorganization of energy systems can take place within the context of transforming econo mies and business which are increasingly confronted by the demands of sustainable development in terms of climatic restrictions safety of instal lations and basic energy supply to the population These constraints can be overcome only through change slow by nature in consumption behaviour and by an In depth reorganization within and between the various sections of energy systems For socio economists one of the priority research areas is to compare the perspective routes of change In consumption which are in turn determined by changes in the structure of economic activity industrial processes tech nological choices and reduction policies in final energy demands They must then deduce from these the development of the structure for production of primary energies depending on the choice between fossil energy with or without sequestration of CO renewable or nuclear energy In the same vein of though
26. f neutrons created by a phenomenon known as spallation means of a supraconductor cavity made of niobium powerful accelerator beam This is the concept behind the hybrid reactor The importance of the cleanliness of the surface explains why the work is being carried out in a clean room i In hybrid reactors Such a subcritical system will call for numerous innovations in both physics and technology Research and development on high intensity proton acceler ation is being conducted at CNRS The objective is to develop a laser beam whose power can reach 1 Megawatt Work is currently underway in basic nuclear physics on the parameters specific to spallation reactions as well as in physical chemistry on the materials of a target capable of preserving its physical integrity for years Numerous experiments have measured the rates of the reactions little understood to date that take place in this type of reactor the damage brought about by elements produced within the mate rials of the spallation target the incineration capacities and the very peculiar neutron behaviour of a subcritical reactor monitoring and safety Finally the material must be found for the transmutation matrices that contain ele ments to be incinerated and that are placed in an intense stream of neutrons These studies are supported by the European program Euratom The construction on a European level of an experimental hybrid reactor is cur rently be
27. he technique Thermal solar energy has aroused renewed interest thanks to develop ments in a new generation of higher efficiency low temperature sensors These increase the rate of conversion of radiation into electricity or heat in the photovoltaic sensors to which they are sometimes linked High temper ature solar electricity production is also promising CNRS teams are dev eloping new concepts for transporting and storing heat for its conversion into electricity The use of solar energy concentration systems also enables testing of thermochemical hydrogen production cycles and high temper ature water electrolysis ere Pyrolysis gasification of biomass for energy and chemistry Biomass is a plentiful renewable source of energy which does not generate greenhouse gas build up It can be transformed at a high temperature by various pyrolysis gasification processes Vegetation biomass is transformed into products mainly gaseous which can then be used to produce heat electricity fuel substitutes or hydrogen The future industrial development of such technolo gies requires research activities covering the full process chain from the production of biomass to downstream energy use CNRS Photo J L d 1 Virgin cellulose particles 2 Cellulose particles exposed for 1 10 th of a second to intense heat The formed liquid phase leads to their agglomeration This phenomenon must be taken into consideration in desig
28. iculates into the atmosphere The optimization of energy yields the reduction and even the capture of chemical pol lutants for the protection of the environment and human health remain the priorities to be reached along with the permanent concern for the safety of the facilities Basic studies In the fields of fluid mechanics heat transfer and chemistry are essential in order to improve our knowledge of physical phenomena associated with combustion To address industrial concerns CNRS labora tories are currently investigating the ability of systems to accept new fuels produced from biomass refinery residues coal and industrial or domestic waste For that purpose the gasification or pyrolysis of these fuels seem to be the most appropriate processes for obtaining clean combustion of the synthetic gases formed CO and H3 The optimization of such processes often leads to unstable flame regimes that can impair the operation of devi ces and even lead to their deterioration Data acquired by CNRS in partner ship with manufacturers are used to develop innovative clean efficient and reliable combustion processes for engines industrial and domestic fur naces incinerators and gas turbines These systems are designed to be coupled with a separation unit for the capture and sequestration of carbon or of CO2 upstream or downstream of the combustion chamber At present four main methods of capture are possible cryogenics gas liquid abs
29. ing discussed Scheduled to be operational by 2015 it will have to The GENEPI accelerator right produces i oe i neutron pulses at the end of the pipe at the demonstrate the technical feasibility of waste incineration center of the fuel in blue This is a method for studying sub critical devices Nuclear energy of the future The CNRS applies its skills in fundamental research and its methods of scientific expertise to the evaluation of nuclear energy production processes since the least polluting processes are needed to respond to the challenge of sustainable develop ment for the 21st century Radiotoxicity of actinides discharged by different cycles in equilibrium If nearly 75 of the world s energy production today derives from fossil fuels nuclear energy will be required to play an increasingly important role in the future not only for the production of electricity without the emission of greenhouse gases but also for other forms of energy heat hydrogen desa lination of sea water However necessary the extension of current reactors based on the uranium cycle can only be a transient solution because of the inefficient use of the resource and the fact that the fuel cycle is never ter minated For nuclear energy production to reach the objectives set for it researchers must optimize the use of resources propose a reliable waste management system and improve the safety of reactors CNRS in close col laborat
30. ing the discussions preliminary to the Kyoto Protocol the countries involved chose to favor an approach based on quotas combined with the issuing of negotiable permits rather than a tax based approach for both political and diplomatic reasons Much research still needs to be carried out to define the long term standards that will enable this mode of coordination to function without distortion i e rules on the attribution of quotas for newly subscribed countries practical rules on permit exchanges etc CNRS researchers are also interested in studying how to associate countries that have not subscribed with the Protocol re association of the United States or subscription of developing countries Thus various mechanisms have been proposed to implicate developing countries in the reduction of gas emissions prior to their actual participation in the Protocol These issues raise the problem of the future of the Protocol which is a research subject in itself Energy innovations and public policies CNRS research aims to determine the economic and sociological barriers that have resulted from the introduction of new techniques and innovation dynamics It is an important objective that will enable inciting measures to be developed for use by authorities to stimulate technical change Analysis of the mechanisms of technological distribution aims to improve the understanding of economic and social hurdles This consists in in depth sector based an
31. ion with the CEA French Atomic Energy Authority has undertaken w II 4 the study of extremely innovative reactors dedicated either to the incinera tion of waste produced by current uranium based processes or to the sus POPE tainable production of energy by using the thorium cycle which generates fewer transuranic elements eliminating the need for hybrid reactor inciner ation and burning a lower quantity of fissionable material dose Sv GWypyears These new options for the nuclear energy of the future based on the opti mal use of uranium fast spectrum gas cooled reactors and thorium epi thermal spectrum molten salt reactors should between the two of them supply 20 of global production by 2050 Minimizing the production of waste they promise optimized management of current waste with the used fuel supplying part of the new fuel A system optimized for the use of thorium would be a molten salt reactor in which the liquid fuel circulates which is also the heat carrier This sys tem presents such theoretical benefits that it is being studied and docu mented as thoroughly as possible CNRS is beginning experiments intended in particular to validate the key point of partial but continuous reprocessing of the fuel These experiments are conducted in national EDF CEA French Atomic Energy Authority and international European Union master pro grams collabora
32. ions by four to stabilize the atmospheric concentrations thereof To achieve this four conditions need to be respected i e energy must be saved energies that do not give off CO must be developed renewable or nuclear energy CO must be captured and stored when fossil energies are used and energy efficiency must be increased Research has a key role to play in each of the above domains in proposing new solutions or identifying scientific inconsistencies and technological hur dles Research continuity must be ensured by establishing achievable imple mentation deadlines Furthermore a global approach based on the mixing of energies must be used for research This should lead to the development of a range of new technologies that meet the criteria of economic efficacy social acceptability and environmental protection If demand is considered in the short term significant efforts must be made as regards electricity supplies housing and transportation Energy require ments of the residential tertiary sectors can be considerably decreased by making use of solar energy surface geothermal energy and new materials combined with novel architectural designs Regarding transportation progress can still be made to increase the return of combustion engines the principal form of engines that will be used within the next fifteen to twenty years and to manage gas emissions A marked effort must be made to develop hybrid engines with gas becoming
33. n made in all these areas In response to the new requirements of the energy demand CNRS embark ed in 2001 upon a major study program alongside the research organizations involved in the energy sector the French Ministry for Research and industry An interdisciplinary program Energie resulted from this project This pro gram which will be discussed in further detail in this publication is based on five main subjects new resources solar and biomass energy conversion nuclear and waste processing energy carriers electricity hydrogen heat uses domestic engines fuel cells and socio economic impacts Naturally a scientific and technological watch will still be maintained on the other sectors The scientific community has been structured and organized around each of these areas Over a hundred researchers and professors and just as many doctoral students are working on these different topics Their common objec tive is to make headway in scientific and technological knowledge to overcome current problems discover innovative concepts and invent acceptable reactor systems for the future The cost of energy is a major issue whatever its source for member countries of the OECD Organization for Economic Co operation and Development and especially for developing countries To make energy costs acceptable CNRS must work in partnership with industrialists offering them new potentials and accompanying them in their research and de
34. network architectures will lead to large scale problems of connection congestion control of the economic viability of planned development and finally acceptability CNRS is committed to resolving these problems with a particular focus on storage The hydrogen carrier is very promising since its final conversions do not involve the production of greenhouse gas A significant gain in pro ductivity can be obtained by catalytic methods the use of thermochemi cal cycles electrolysis at high temperature or from renewable energy sources and finally by photocatalysis or photobiology The introduction of this carrier converted to electricity within fuel cells requires dynam ic storage systems with high mass and volume capacity metal hydrides and carbon nanomaterial processes are to be developed gradually With regard to the heat carrier the main obstacles arise from qual ity loss during conversion or transformation The focal point of current research is the temperature level of the heat inside heat exchangers and during transport in the form of sensible or latent heat and finally during the storage de storage phases CNRS has the objective of fully mastering these three carriers which will require intense multidisciplinary research to remove the associated obstacles Electricity The production of electricity Is today concentrated around very high power units The deregulation of the energy market and the production of electrici
35. ns for reactors CNRS Photo J Led Fast pyrolysis process of biomass The cyclone reactor used with a volume of 0 5 L can transform 1 kg of sawdust per hour into pyrolysis gas or oil CNRS Photo J L d Reactor in which cellulose or lignin pellets are exposed to brief controlled heat fluxes The process of thermal degradation of biomass The composition and structure of biomass are very complex and strongly depend on underlying type forests crops The variable reactivity results that it can produce will require in depth study CNRS teams are endeavor ing to comprehend in detail the intimate mechanisms of pyrolysis of the components of biomass cellulose lignin hemicellulose The problems result from the strong coupling that exists between the chemical processes and heating slow or fast the type and state of biomass size humidity composition The intention of this research is to control the thermal behav ior of biomasses from different sources in terms of product composition notably gaseous High temperature reactors and cleanliness of effluents These processes are carried out in high temperature reactors where the primary reactions described above are followed by secondary processes the scale of which depends on operating conditions and on the type of reac tor hydrodynamic heat and mass transfers capacity The effluents must also have a minimum level of impurities taking account of their
36. nsive Sociologists have determined that even if they appear non polluting renewable energies are discredited in the eyes of potential users by a certain amount of qualifying terms A lack of investiga tion on their representativity voluntary or involuntary confusion as regards the choice of vocabulary a lack of notoriety or structural and institutional constraints to their distribution all contribute to citizens refraining from opting for renewable energy To remedy this situation CNRS researchers are conducting studies to reintegrate these energy types in the discussions on resources Sociological analysis of waste management Nuclear waste management constitutes a significant field of analysis for CNRS researchers In particular the origin and history of the problem its formulation its various appearances on the agenda of the authorities and finally its politicization following controversy about the choice of a techni cal solution subsurface disposal presented as an unavoidable necessity had to be re examined which resulted in the intervention of actors that had previously been left out i e members of parliament and local ministers A public debate on the subject and the passing of an original law in 1991 re vived research in this field The resulting wider spread mobilization of the scientific community led to the development of a wider range of potential choices and conceivable scenarios for waste processing or stor
37. ombi nation of different energy resources including renewable ones solar and wind energy hydrogen thermonuclear fusion if the results of this process prove convincing and fossil fuels Two conditions are necessary to achieve this Firstly human and social science researchers must become involved in the resolution of regulatory problems in the evaluation of innovating technologi cal sectors and in the internal and external costs on the new routes for better technological governing as well as in new lifestyles that are energy saving This research represents an essential condition to the acceptance by society of necessary changes Secondly strong partnerships must be established be tween French public research bodies and European and international research organizations and companies in order to cover preliminary research and technological development for a given subject Research must provide solutions without any prejudice whereas industrial partnership which essential to technological development must open markets by meeting the demands of countries of the OECD and developing countries 29 For further information Website for the Energie program www imp enrs fr energie Website for the PACE program http pace in2p3 fr This booklet was published by the CNRS Delegation for scientific and technical information DIST Conception and coordination St phanie Lecocq stephanie lecocqGenrs dir fr Coordination for english version
38. orption adsorption on active carbon or on zeolites membrane separation CNRS has undertaken several research projects on adsorption and on membranes bringing together researchers from several scientific disciplines to work in three main directions the development of new mate rials the design of selective membranes and high density modules and the development of hybrid processes combining filtration and catalytic transformation These processes are intended for the recovery in situ of the CQ produced during industrial combustion prior to storage For that pur pose experimental studies and modelling in laboratories and on technolog ical platforms will allow a better grasp of the combination of physical phe nomena involved a vision of the industrial process to be implemented and an assessment of the techno economic impact 66818 EOE Context and Issues 16 Focus Energy An energy carrier must be appropriate for its task easy to store and transportable with minimum loss from the point of view of both quantity and quality of energy and lastly it must be fully suited for its intended ultimate use all of this in acceptable safety conditions CNRS is cur rently working on three carriers of the future The most widely used carrier is electricity thanks to its ease of use Managing electricity will become crucially important within the frame work of the deregulation of the energy market 2006 new production technologies and new
39. ownstream side of the nuclear power cycle he goal of this program is to minimize the contamination and envi ronmental impact of nuclear waste Part of the work aims at coming up with solutions for increasing the safety of long term accumulation research on materials and storage of nuclear waste geo sciences No process of transmutation can entirely eliminate the volume of waste ine vitably generated by industrial processes Modern waste management will involve careful segregation of the more or less mobile radiotoxic elements plutonium and heavy elements iodine and cesium that result from the phenomenon of nuclear fission CNRS teams contribute to research into chemical compounds that can selectively extract these elements from the irradiated fuel either for their specific storage or for their transmutation By studying the natural analogues these teams are making progress towards understanding the sorption mechanisms of these elements on solids or their discharge and migration into the geosphere and biosphere They are working on developping and assessing new solid compounds whose confinement properties will not be destroyed in the long term by radioactivity and the resulting high temperature CNRS teams are involved in drilling work to depths of more than 500 m for the wells of the Meuse Haute Marne underground laboratory Here one relies on geological material to confine the radioactive elements The labo ratory has to study th
40. r stationary applications are important concerns CNRS researchers are also working on the possibility of producing recyclable cells from available material working towards sus tainable development in this area this is not currently the case especially due to the unpredictable economy of platinum Various marketing research studies have forecast a major introduction of this technology starting in 2010 and a significant market in the order of a dozen billion euros from 2020 to 2030 The future of this technology is there fore that of a vital intermediary goods for the world anode diffusion layer catalyst catalyst diffusion layer hydrogene cathode _ EBI Socio economic impact Context and Issues 24 Focus Energy Under the influence of several major transformations climatic change linked to the additional greenhouse effect which is the subject of international negotiations on conservation issues in the interests of worldwide public benefit re concentration of energy supplies in a sensitive geopolitical zone deregulation or liberalization of energy markets in particular electricity and finally the acceleration of indus trial development processes humanity is faced with considerable changes in matters of energy The Intergovernmental group of Experts on Climatic change GIEC outlines in its third report that leading up to 2050 if concentrations of greenhouse gases are to be stabilized glob
41. rmic reactions with carefully selected solids en sures the transport of heat or cold The storage function is integrated into these new processes The implementation of such a process would ensure a fit between local and regional resources and demand with an adequate economy 0 v Context and Issues 20 Focus Energy Analysis of the evolution of the final consumption of energy per sec tor shows that in Europe the residential tertiary sector represents approximately 40 transportation approximately 32 and industry 28 A large increase in consumption is anticipated by 2020 in partic ular for the first two sectors Energy consumed for transportation comes exclusively from petroleum whereas for mainly from petroleum and natural gas it comes housing The detailed analysis of factors of progression in CQ emissions underscores the importance of develop ing innovative solutions with acceptable cost conditions essentially in these two areas Research conducted by CNRS in these strategic domains partially follows the 2001 conclusions of the Parliamentary Office for the Assessment of Scientific and Technological Choices concerning two essential programs for housing South Facing program for intelligent bio roofs and for transportation earth energy program for indepen dent bio fuels The first program seeks to increase the energy performance of build ings and the search for new energy sources and even their h
42. roduction of nitrogen oxides This leads to combustion instabilities which have not yet been fully controlled and require further research into ignition conditions The scientific challenge of the coming years will be homogenous combus tion a method without flame propagation where the mixture is directly auto ignited by compression leading to a high reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions The process requires basic research on the aerodynamics of the mixture and is strongly dependent on the chemical kinetics of the fuel used These kinetics remain a key point in defining new fuels and the use of bio fuels Research should focus on fuel composition and the preparation of the mixture combustion processing of effluents and interactions with struc tures Several CNRS laboratories are already working in these areas They are equipped with simulation resources and experimental and metrological devices There is also an operational platform located in Haute Normandie for testing with real engines The sound emitted during the process a constant and controlled knocking sound is a significant advantage for this new combustion process Use of plasmas for combustion and pollution abatement Pulsed plasma discharges generated in gases at pressures above or equal to atmospheric pressure are remarkable converters for transforming electrical energy into chemical energy in the form of active radicals These systems are characterized by low energy co
43. sential component of any sustainable development policy Only research can come up with technological solutions leading towards a new approach to the use of alternative sources of energy without a priori exceptions fossil energies renewable energies nuclear energy It will also have to integrate basic research in the field of human and social sciences which will have to deal with risk analysis eco nomic forecasts and energy access methods as well as technical adaptability and social acceptance The role of human and social sciences is all the more important given that we do not at present have a common universal model for the value of energy for human beings and societies Since the first oil crisis in 1973 the CNRS French National Center for Scientific Research has been working on structured research in the field of energy The successive programs PIRDES PIRSEM ECOTECH ECODEV identified two main targets thermal and photovoltaic solar energy and the optimization of energy conversion processes to improve energy efficiency An important part of the research effort has also been devoted to industrial com bustion and thermal engines Furthermore a general program PACE relat ing to the processing and future of radioactive waste and Innovative solutions for new reactors has been undertaken in partnership with the CEA French Atomic Energy Authority and relevant manufacturers Significant scientific and technological headway has bee
44. stems whilst also satisfying criteria of volume and mass capacity of mechanical behavior of the materials and of economic and energy costs Success in this area will depend on design synthesis and characterization of new materials ona better understanding of the phenomena of the interaction between hydro gen and materials and on mastering the production and use of materials in reservoirs as well as the dynamics involved in storage withdrawal using these reservoirs Theoretical and experimental work Is also being carried out at microscopic molecular and macroscopic reservoir levels Heat Heat in the context of the energy demand in France represents over 80 of fossil fuel consumption The management of ther mal energy with its storage and transport functions including the minimization of thermal losses and of energy quality the temperature level is an essential area for progress from the point of view of resources and for environmental conservation The compactness of exchangers requires thorough in depth studies of the physics of phase change in new fluids with convection at high temperature and in a confined environment wo phase flow behavior must also be taken into account which leads to problems of distribution and fouling CNRS is designing multifunctional exchangers and developing thermal micro com ponents In order to resolve the thermal issues of new energy technologies in dynamic operation particularly fuel cells an
45. sts because the thermal chan nels of energy consumption do not come into play Two fields of applica tion are currently under development at CNRS A fuel mixture is ignited by cold plasma where the direct creation of radicals provides the conditions for the ignition of poorly controlled lean mixtures This research should be conducted together with research into ignition kinetics Other studies concern pollution abatement in diesel exhaust particle filters using prop erties of the plasma discharges which are naturally oxidizing Encouraging experiments on test engines have shown that these plasma systems can be an alternate solution in resolving environmental issues Fuel cells Fuel cells allow the chemical energy produced by combustion of a fuel in oxygen to be transformed directly into electrical energy without thermal combustion Benefits of this conversion method include a reduction of the harmful effects on the environment no emission of noxious gases low noise levels and efficiency greater than 40 going as high as 90 when operating in co generation Depending on the type of electrolyte and fuel and the operating tempera ture level there are several types of cells two of which are the subject of important European and international research CNRS is focussing on such technologies PEMFC cells cells with protonic polymeric membranes 80 to 100 C operating at low temperature and SOFC cells molten carbonate fuel cells 600 to
46. t CNRS researchers are analyzing the conditions for develo ping new industrial processes for energy transformation the enhanced value of multi energies co generation and the connection of these proces ses for energy uses particularly through decentralized production Prospects in the energy sector Energy prospecting requires the development of complementary simula tion models Firstly sector based models capable of showing the techno logical structure of energy systems and their coherence and dynamics must be designed followed by models ensuring the homogeneity of energy scenarios With this intention CNRS researchers integrate into the models parameters such as the balance between goods and service exchanges industrial competitiveness financial constraints and incentives taxation pricing subsidies R amp D standards thereby making it possible to unders tand technology deployment and changes in consumer habits The research work is structured by feasibility analyses Initially the resear chers determine the requirements to change the current situation and transform society into one with a low greenhouse gas emission profile and then study ways of meeting that objective The prospective approach the refore consists in defining a desirable future in the long term and develo ping models to achieve that result Socio economic impact EBI 1 Socio economic impact Participatory governance and acceptability Issues
47. the construction activity in France The integration of the underground which has a thermal mass with a quasi constant temperature throughout the seasons is a source or sink of heat that is currently unexploited for the thermal management of build ings New tri thermal systems combining dynamic heat sources such as solar energy surface geothermal energy with constant supply from deep underground or variable supply via Canadian wells for outside air re newal are currently under development in the aim of ensuring very high energy independence and controlled requirements Such systems must be implemented rapidly in current residential and tertiary sectors Research on bioclimatic housing investigates the relations between build ings and their immediate environment with a view to optimizing architec tural design and energy consumption The integration and optimization of passive or active solar energy components into buildings the quest for inno vative processes capable of improving energy transfer from these compo nents to building interiors in the context of an approach of high environ mental quality are also at the heart of the concerns of CNRS research teams Research tools integrating a socio economical approach are favored and effective energy management methods integrating all the internal and external interactions in the habitat are still to be found The outer shell of the building evolves towards more developed systems such
48. tive programs grz ki a maljan nak 4 31 The current outlook is towards validation studies for both types of nuclear reactors discussed above which appear to be highly complementary The work of CNRS concentrates especially on thorium fuelled reactors which are highly flexible and minimize waste Additional work is being conducted on the inevitable transition from current to future nuclear energy methods of deployment evolution of inventories and the management of waste fuels 9818 conversion Controlled thermonuclear fusion Controlling thermonuclear fusion is an objective with much potential since it involves reproducing on earth a phenomenon already at work in the stars the fusion of light elements accompanied by a high discharge of energy producing no greenhouse gas emission and no long lived radioactive waste Deuterium and lithium fuels for the fusion are plentiful in sea water which would guarantee the avallability of resources and national energy independence France has begun working on the construction of large machines ITER tokamak megajoule laser corresponding to both the process es magnetic and inertial of controlled thermonuclear fusion alt Dian t a CNRS Ecole polytechnique Photo A Truc In this experimantal facility of the Plasma Physics and Technology Laboratory LPTP a plasma with toroidal configuration is created to study plasma turbulence in
49. ty via renewable energy sources will change this and contribute to the massive development of decentralized production at lower power This type of production will contribute to reinforcing the reliability of the energy supply and will represent for emerging countries the opportunity to access electricity faster and at lower cost The introduction of low or medium power units at different polnts along the network characteristic of active distribution will significantly change the energy flow in the network It will also entail further research such as the use of protection and piloting devices suitable for one way energy flow CNRS is dealing with the promotion of a safe energy flow management sys tem for these future networks without which the electric system will not be fully operational This management requires interdisciplinary research in areas such as interconnections distribution reliability the distributed control of decentralized units and the development of new architectures the economic viability and acceptability of which have not yet been proven The diversification of electricity sources which certainly includes intermit tent renewable energy sources wind photovoltaic and production systems distributed over numerous sites raises problems of connecting to the net work Power electronic devices must be capable in such a context of support ing high voltages 20 kV which will involve research on components and on the ar
50. ultimate purpose The chemical engineering skills of the CNRS teams are put to use in researching reactors that are best suited for this most important aspect of biomass The need to purify the products has also entailed research in the cracking process of by products tars as well as the efficient elimina tion of dust particles aerosols and alkalis The aim of all this work is to design using reliable scaling laws industrial scale processes that are clean and selective Management and profitability of industrial processes All stages of each process must be integrated into the methodology of proceeding from the resource biomass to the end use of effluents It is essential to discover solutions suited to the most favorable combination between type availability transport and storage of biomass the process ing capacity local or centralized units energy optimization the type of downstream use that is envisaged heat electricity fuel chemistry geopolitical and socio economic data Bio fuels Bio fuels come from a renewable raw material that constitutes a sink of CO by photosynthesis a positive factor in the fight against greenhouse gases wo types of bio fuels can contribute in the short and medium term bio ethanol petroleum and methyl esters diesel In the longer term biological hydrogen production is a promising area into which CNRS has already start ed research These biofuels have significant scope for progr
51. velopment work once the markets have been created Markets will be opened through joint action between research organizations and industrials pooling their knowledge and technology to respond to the populations energy demand CNRS will be one of the first key actors in the ambitious national and European program currently in the preparation phase 5818 RODZ Context and Issues 6 Focus Energy Energy sources or primary energy come in different forms fossil fuels coal oil natural gas mechanical energy hydraulic wind waves tide radiant energy solar energy and nuclear energy The plan ets supply 75 of fossil origin 10 using biomass and renewable energy 15 in the form of electricity of hydraulic and nuclear origin will become critically low over the next thirty to fifty years especially the supply of fossil fuels These are largely responsible for the CO emissions polluting the atmosphere and for the climate change Society is therefore confronted with the necessity of substituting fossil resources with non polluting renewable energy sources Certain renewable energy types wind hydraulic energy have already reached maturity with their basic research phases essentially complete requiring only technological supervision In addition to sup porting progress by exploiting these renewable energy types for sustain able development and environmental protection research efforts now need to focus on photovoltaic generated
52. ybridiza tion thermal solar energy photovoltaics functional materials surface geothermal energy both for new and existing buildings This should lead to the concept of low energy consumption housing The second program targets a growth in bio fuel production while accelerating scientific and technological progress in the combustion of these fuels in the aim of decreasing consumption and greenhouse gas emission Research in this field is being conducted in partnership with oil industries and automotive manufacturers Finally in the transporta tion and housing sectors an important research effort is devoted to fuel cells as new electricity and heat generators membrane cells for transportation and solid electrolyte cells for stationary co generation systems These cells are the solutions for the future due to their non polluting character if the hydrogen supply can be controlled and costs can be lowered drastically Housing Our increasing standards of comfort have created more demands on the environment Dressing habits have changed the popula tion lives much longer and its metabolism slows down with age The energy consumption dedicated to immediate comfort in our daily habitat which is already the main factor of consumption in France can only increase in the future CNRS research actions include new buildings but their main thrust is directed toward the rehabilitation of existing buildings which represents the major part of
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