CEA (France’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) is a Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) and a full member of EARTO, the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations. It is also an associate member of the Bio-based Industry Consortium.
In the knowledge and innovation economy, RTOs have a distinct mission and a key role: they produce, integrate and transfer science and technology to help resolve grand societal challenges and to exploit opportunities for new wealth creation, improved standards of living, preservation and build-up of economic competitiveness. They occupy nodal positions in the structuration of innovation eco-systems in Europe, bringing together key players across the whole innovation chain, from fundamental to technological research, from product and process development to prototyping and demonstration, and forward on to full-scale industrial implementation.
CEA runs 10 research centers and 6 regional technological platforms located all over France, hiring over 16,000 people. According to Reuter’s ranking, CEA became in 2016 the most innovative public research organisation in the world. Its core missions are to identify, develop and maturate Key Enabling Technologies from TRL 3 to TRLs 5-7 through public-private partnerships.
The experimental work on the NENU2PHAR project will be carried out at CEATech/DSUD, a research institute located in the Cadarache research center, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur Region, in the French Mediterranean area. CEATech/DSUD owns and operate an open innovation platform devoted to the design and experimentation of advanced technologies for cultivation, harvesting and characterization of microalgal biomass. CEATech/DSUD works closely with public and private stakeholders, including industrial companies and technology providers involved in biobased economy. Beside experimental projects, CEATech/DSUD assesses the techno-economic relevance of processes, and ensures their successful transfer from R&D to full-scale implementation. Its staff is also committed to dissemination through its participation to several bioeconomy clusters.