Presentation

I-Tésé is the energy economics research institute of the CEA, France’s largest government-funded research and technology organization.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

In many countries around the globe, Net Zero by 2050 targets have already resulted in strict new legislation, more of which is sure to come. As a research and technology organization, the CEA is focusing on the many technological hurdles that still stand in the way of our Net Zero future. But technology isn't the whole picture. Our chosen paths to Net Zero also have to be sustainable and economically viable. This means making sure that raw materials are available in sufficient quantities and, more broadly, that the costs to society are acceptable.

At I-Tésé, our mission is to provide a systemic understanding of the economics and sustainability of energy systems through the kind of transitions that will be necessary to achieve Net Zero.

We believe that this will require advancing our knowledge of three energy-transition pillars:

• Demand-side patterns and consumer behaviors in a Net Zero world;
• Low-carbon energy production and storage technologies and the materials necessary to deploying these technologies; and
• The many interfaces that occur between these pillars in a given legislative and regulatory environment.

We are also committed to sharing our research with policymakers, energy-industry stakeholders, institutions of higher education, and research organizations so that they have the factual, systemic information they need to make better-informed decisions.

• Create a systemic understanding of the economics and sustainability of energy systems in transition toward Net Zero.

• Run scenarios and other predictive analyses based on our own and third-party data to inform the institute's energy research strategy.

• Conduct research on the technical and economic aspects of energy systems to inform other CEA departments' energy research.

• Provide other CEA departments with technical and economic models and sustainability analyses of the solutions they are developing.

• Leverage the CEA's advances in uranium recycling to bring circular economy principles to other strategic energy-transition materials like cobalt and lithium.

• Evaluate potential regulatory frameworks and market design rules to determine which models best support the transition to Net Zero.

• ​Use the methods of the social sciences and humanities to interrogate the demand side and better understand where, when, why, and how people will use energy. 

At I-Tésé, people are the throughline in everything we do. We are guided by five core values:

• The highest standards of scientific method and scrutiny in our research.
• Rigorous technical and economic analysis.
• Beyond-state-of-the-art technologies and models.
• Technology agnosticism as an enabler of independence and impartiality.
• ​Inclusivity.