BRGM research programmes are deployed in three areas:

Transcription

1 TURN IN 2015 RESEARCH THE BRGM IS ORGANISATION AND FRANCE S TO RESEARCH, SUPPORT TO PUBLIC POLICY AND. A national steering committee representing s supervisory Internationally as in France, Since 2006, has been responsible, on behalf of the French BRGM AN RESEARCH GNMENT 6 HEAD OFFICE 1 COMMUNICATION AND DIVISION, BRGM EDITIONS - DESIGN AND LAYOUT: EFIL / - C PHOTO: RENÉ CARAYOL - PRINTED BY IMPRIMERIE VINCENT (TOURS) - ISBN

2 TURN IN 2015 RESEARCH THE BRGM IS ORGANISATION AND FRANCE S TO RESEARCH, SUPPORT TO PUBLIC POLICY AND. A national steering committee representing s supervisory Internationally as in France, Since 2006, has been responsible, on behalf of the French BRGM AN RESEARCH GNMENT 6 HEAD OFFICE 1 COMMUNICATION AND DIVISION, BRGM EDITIONS - DESIGN AND LAYOUT: EFIL / - C PHOTO: RENÉ CARAYOL - PRINTED BY IMPRIMERIE VINCENT (TOURS) - ISBN

3 EXPERTISE GEOLOGY, OUR CORE COMPETENCE, IS THE HUB AROUND WHICH THE BRGM DEVELOPS EXPERT KNOWLEDGE ON RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, RISK PREVENTION AND INNOVATIVE ECOTECHNOLOGIES. THESE ACTIVITIES ARE ORGANISED INTO 10 TOPIC AREAS THAT ADDRESS THE MAJOR INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES OF TODAY. GEOLOGY GEOTHERMAL ENERGY Our core function is to improve geological knowledge on subsoils to meet the needs of society. To respond to needs both in France and in developing countries (for resource management, risk management, underground storage, etc.), we acquire, collect, manage and validate data from different sources to create and update databases, maps and models. Through the French Geological Reference Platform, we design new digital products (2D, 3D, 4D) that can be operated with different media and at different scales to suit all user needs, from government departments to industrial planners or teachers. Our approach is fully in line with policies for developing renewable energy and energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The BRGM works to promote geothermal energy and develop its use in every form. We work on geothermal heat pumps for heating and cooling in new and renovated housing and tertiary sector premises (in particular through a national experimental platform) and on geothermal supplies for heating and power production networks. The volcanic islands of overseas France are of particular importance for our research and expert studies and for the activities of our subsidiary companies, while deep underground resources in mainland France are essential to the development of innovative CHP projects. MINERAL RESOURCES STORAGE Our work addresses every aspect of knowledge and management in the field of mineral raw materials, from research on processes and predictivity, explorations and assessments of reserves through to the economics of mineral and metal resources and expert studies for post-mining phases. Thanks to our competences in the field of development strategy and our knowledge of resources and international markets, we are leading international experts for support to the development of mining policies. Drawing on a thorough understanding of mineral deposits, our life cycle analyses for different substances from deposit formation through to extraction operations and their management are core components of the studies we carry out for governments, institutions and businesses worldwide. In keeping with policies on climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, is a key research player for geological storage of energy and CO2. Our approach focuses on safety criteria, inventories of storage capacity, mapping likely geological formations in France and elsewhere, modelling interactions between fluids and solids in engineered or natural geological structures, monitoring storage reservoirs and assessing countermeasures to be implemented in the event of storage anomalies. We provide support for the development of public policies to implement these techniques, which are set to make an increasing contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions. Tel: LABORATORIES AND EXPERIMENTATION POST-MINING WATER In 2006, the French State handed responsibility to for monitoring former mining sites and for action to prevent risks and pollution. We are responsible for the operational management of safety and environmental issues arising from mine closures, from surveillance to State-delegated responsibility for safety engineering. The wide range of substances, methods and periods of operation concerned demand a thorough understanding of information sources, extraction techniques and remediation methods in the context of global change. Our competences include the operation of environmental surveillance networks, understanding the physical phenomena involved and their kinetics, managing safety facilities (water, gas, etc.) and technical studies to develop remedial solutions. The BRGM s activities are supplemented by the GEODERIS group for public expert assessments. Tel: Our core activities focus on water resource management, studies on hydrosystem functions and their protection, identifying untapped reserves and studies on climate change impacts on water resources, especially their repercussions for drinking water supplies, flooding and drought and the consequences for users. We are closely involved in studies on the mechanisms governing contaminant transfers and water pollution, including from diffuse sources and by emerging pollutants. Our expertise is applied to support implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, through the development of the new hydrogeological reference map, new databases (such as ADES) and new methodological guides for public policy-making. We design methods and tools for integrated and sustainable resource management and for maintaining or restoring resource quality, using approaches that integrate physical, biogeochemical and socioeconomic aspects. Tel: Producing high-quality analytical and experimental data is the cornerstone of high-level scientific research in the geosciences and environmental sciences. We deliver high added-value services in the fields of chemical, isotopic and microbiological analysis, environmental metrology, mineral characterisation and multi-scale experimentation, from production of the data through to interpretation and expert assessments that call on the geosciences and environmental sciences. Thanks to our facilities and competences, we are the leading reference laboratory in France for geoscience and environmental analyses and experimentation. We have obtained COFRAC accreditation in acknowledgement of our know-how in methods development and validation. Tel: RISKS ENVIRONMENT AND ECOTECHNOLOGIES INFORMATION SYSTEMS We apply an integrated approach to the management of contaminated sites and soils. Our priority areas are polluted sites, soils and sediments and the management of post-consumption, industrial and mining waste, from the characterisation of the (bio)hydro-geochemical mechanisms governing pollutant mobility and transfer and environmental impact assessments through to the development or assessment of processes to rehabilitate degraded sites or to recover primary and secondary mineral materials. We develop and manage permanent databases such as BS, an inventory of derelict and potentially polluting industrial sites, which is cross-referenced with data on drinking water abstraction points and different site uses. We conduct expert studies and third-party surveys requested by industries and local or central government departments, and we contribute to the development of environmental regulations and standards. Tel: One of our key roles is to provide all interested parties (including the public authorities, planners and the general public) with readily accessible and easily usable information to support decisions in each area of interest. To do so, we design, urbanise and implement information systems based on interoperability standards (for data and services) to ensure maximum transferability to other users involved in environmental issues, risks and resources. We are helping to implement the INSPIRE directive, in particular through our production of the national Geocatalogue and our OCG Geoservices platform. Our well-tried experience and R&D projects in IT infrastructure stand us in good stead for data distribution and organisation (InfoTerre portal and mobile apps) and for computing and simulation techniques. Tel: GEOLOGY MINERAL RESOURCES GEOTHERMAL ENERGY STORAGE POST-MINING RISKS WATER ENVIRONMENT AND ECOTECHNOLOGIES LABORATORIES AND EXPERIMENTATION INFORMATION SYSTEMS Understanding, anticipating, preventing, managing and adapting: our constant aim is to reduce the potential impacts of telluric risks (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, landslides), climatic risks (land movements, clay soil shrinking and swelling), coastal risks (erosion and/or coastal flooding) and risks arising from human uses of the subsoil (storage reservoirs, sinkholes, etc.) in the context of global change. To study and understand these risks and vulnerability to exposure, we design and operate a range of tools: surveillance systems, predictive models, risk mapping, databases, management-support models and scenarios, assessments of physical and systems vulnerability and multi-risk analysis methods. One of our key roles is to provide decision-makers with diagnostic and decision-support tools to aid risk prevention, spatial planning and crisis management. Tel:

4 TURN IN 2015 RESEARCH THE BRGM IS ORGANISATION AND FRANCE S TO RESEARCH, SUPPORT TO PUBLIC POLICY AND. A national steering committee representing s supervisory Internationally as in France, Since 2006, has been responsible, on behalf of the French BRGM AN RESEARCH GNMENT 6 HEAD OFFICE 1 COMMUNICATION AND DIVISION, BRGM EDITIONS - DESIGN AND LAYOUT: EFIL / - C PHOTO: RENÉ CARAYOL - PRINTED BY IMPRIMERIE VINCENT (TOURS) - ISBN

5 TURN IN 2015 RESEARCH THE BRGM IS ORGANISATION AND FRANCE S TO RESEARCH, SUPPORT TO PUBLIC POLICY AND. A national steering committee representing s supervisory Internationally as in France, Since 2006, has been responsible, on behalf of the French BRGM AN RESEARCH GNMENT 6 HEAD OFFICE 1 COMMUNICATION AND DIVISION, BRGM EDITIONS - DESIGN AND LAYOUT: EFIL / - C PHOTO: RENÉ CARAYOL - PRINTED BY IMPRIMERIE VINCENT (TOURS) - ISBN