Assess and manage the direct impacts of research

The school's commitment is reflected through a range of initiatives, including a comprehensive carbon assessment and research projects related to renewable energy and decarbonisation.

Objective

Implement assessment tools for each research entity and commit to reducing emissions, in line with the Labos1.5 approach.

Key indicators and actions

• Centrale Nantes represents The Conference of Deans of French Schools of Engineering (CDEFI) within the Higher Education and Research Carbon Accounting working group.
• The Research Laboratory in Hydrodynamics, Energetics & Atmospheric Environment (LHEEA) is one of the pilot laboratories at national level for the Labo1.5 approach. In 2023, working groups will make progress on defining concrete emission reduction scenarios, leading to the development of an action plan in 2024.

A selection of initiatives at Centrale Nantes

As part of a project-based specialisation on the engineering programme, Centrale Nantes calculated its carbon footprint for scopes 1, 2 and 3, including research activities, and has developed tools for individual assessment of the carbon footprint of professional activities, including membership of one of the research laboratories.

The sustainable development coordinators in the Centrale Nantes laboratories (other than LHEEA) are studying the potential application of the Labos 1.5 approach.

CARGO: a cluster on the decarbonisation of maritime transport

The project aims to structure the research activities of NExT (Nantes Trajectoire d'Excellence) partners in the field of maritime transport, in order to bring them together around common research themes and increase their visibility.
Created in 2023, the CARGO cluster brings together research stakeholders contributing to the challenge of decarbonising maritime transport in the Nantes region. Its objectives are to:

• Raise awareness of the research offering and results
• Build a joint vision of the challenges of decarbonising maritime transport
• Facilitate the emergence of new collaboration and research projects

The long-term ambition is to make Nantes a leading region for the maritime transport of tomorrow, both academically and industrially. The cluster is jointly supported by Centrale Nantes and Nantes University and currently brings together researchers from 12 laboratories combining engineering, digital sciences and humanities and social sciences.

LabEx ORACLE (Offshore renewable energy ReseArch Center of excelLencE)

ORACLE aims to support multidisciplinary research to meet the challenges associated with offshore renewable energies, in particular the need for these energies to be a major contributor in the supply of sustainable, safe and competitive energy on a global scale.

The Labex will focus on four challenges:

• quantifying and optimising the performance of offshore energy systems;
• understanding and reducing the uncertainty and risk inherent in producing energy in a marine environment;
• studying and improving the sustainability of offshore renewable energies;
• assessing and leveraging the deployment of offshore renewable energies.

Coordinated by the Research Laboratory in Hydrodynamics, Energetics & Atmospheric Environment (LHEEA) - Centrale Nantes / CNRS, Oracle brings together seven laboratories and WEAMEC.