The year of green engineering in the INSIS

Since 2016, the Institute for Engineering and Systems Sciences (INSIS) of the CNRS has been defining and proposing annual priority themes. By structuring and federating, it has enabled new actions to be initiated: calls for projects, surveys, scientific workshops, communication operations, etc. After Engineering for Health in 2016 and 2017, the INSIS chose Green Engineering in 2018 and 2019.

This theme is in line with several national initiatives, such as the National Strategy for Energy Research (SNRE), the National Low Carbon Strategy (SNBC) and the Government's Climate Plan that is aimed at making France the leading country in the green economy. Green engineering is also important internationally thanks to the various Conferences of the Parties (COPs) in recent years, or to sustainable development objectives.

Green engineering is based on the development of processes and technologies that make it possible to use resources whilst preserving the environment and natural reserves for future generations. It also aims to develop energy-efficient systems or to optimize existing processes. It requires an interdisciplinary approach involving all engineering sciences, which must currently incorporate sustainability into their practices.

Thus, the targeted themes of the INSIS Green Engineering year are:
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  • energy efficiency;
  • a small carbon footprint;
  • bio-sourced processes;
  • technologies at the service of the environment;
  • methods and modelling, in particular those related to life cycle analysis and ecodesign.

To support this initiative, at the end of 2017 the INSIS launched a call for exploratory projects for initial support (PEPS). This received 137 responses, of which some thirty were selected.

A survey was also launched amongst the INSIS laboratories, to identify strengths and activities in the field of green engineering. This was also to propose specific support for dissemination actions amongst teams working on these themes. The publication of a book about green engineering is also planned and several conferences to report on work in 2018 and 2019.

Bilan des actions