With the Académie des Sciences in 2015

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AVEC L’ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES 2015
Energy Prospects
In 2015, the Comité de Prospective en Energie (Standing Committee for Prospects in Energy Procurement) has issued three detailed
advice notes:
• an advice note on energy transition, “Avis sur la transition énergétique”,
released on 21 January 201557;
• a joint statement on the Energy Transition in France and Germany, by the
four French and German national academies (Académie des Sciences,
Académie des Technologies, Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften
Leopoldina, Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften Acatech),
released in English on 10 July 201558;
• an advice note on climate change and the transformation of the energy
system, within the framework of the COP21 preparation, released on
3 November 2015 59.
The Committee also interviewed several personalities with an expertise in the field of energy:
• Dominique Grand, ex-CEA Grenoble, on “The Energy Transition and Electricity Mix: Can Renewable Forms of Energy
Compensate for Nuclear Power Phase-Out?”;
• David Marchal, Networks and Renewable Energy Service of ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency),
on “A 100% Renewable Electricity Mix? Analyses and Optimisations”;
• Michel Combarnous, corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences, “On Some Medium- and Long-Term Trends in
(Wind, Photovoltaic, Nuclear) Energy”.
The Committee continues to constantly reflect on the energy transition and conducts hearings to deepen its knowledge of issues
related to networks, storage, energy efficiency and various plausible scenarios.
Science and Biosafety
Following the recommendations of the Académie’s report Les menaces biologiques. Biosécurité et responsabilité
des scientifiques [Biological Threats: Biosafety and the Responsibility of Scientists] published in 2008, the
Prime Minister decided to set up a National Advisory Council on Biosafety (Conseil National Consultatif pour
la Biosécurité, CNCB), the establishment of which it entrusted to the General Secretariat for Defence and
National Security (Secrétariat Général de la Défense et de la Sécurité Nationale, SGDSN). The installation of
this Committee took place at the Académie des Sciences on 26 November 201560.
Science, Ethics and Society
In 2015,The Comité Science, Ethique et Société (Standing Committee for Science, Ethics and Society)
continued to substantively reflect on the issues related to scientific integrity at large, the ethics of
scientific publication and the internal deontological rules at the Académie.
On all these issues, it had particular exchanges with Dr. Hervé Maisonneuve, author of the blog Rédaction
médicale et scientifique on medical and scientific writing, and with Jean-Pierre Kahane and Jean-Pierre
Changeux on the role of the French National Consultative Ethics Committee for Health and Life Sciences
(Comité consultatif national d’éthique pour les sciences de la vie et de la santé).
Moreover, the Committee started to look into artificial intelligence, its definition, its societal consequences and the ethical implications
of its fast-paced development. Anne Fagot-Largeault, president of the Committee, spread the work of the ALLEA (All European
Academies) Ethics Committee, of which she is also a member.
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