Biomimicry and energy: towards a society with a sustainable economy

Essential for our economies, the energy sector must both respond to a growing need for energy (+50% between 2000 and 2019) and the need to reduce its CO2 impact. The entire area is at a crossroad to shape its future.

In 2019, the EU is launching its Green Act! Objective: achieve carbon neutrality at the EU level by 2050 . The countries of the European Union, including France, have therefore committed until then to absorb as much, or more, carbon than they emit on each of their national territories. The energy sector has a big part to play.

In France, in 2018, 70% of greenhouse gases were due to energy production and use . The remaining 30% was generated by agriculture, industrial processes, solvents, and waste. In 2019, energy represented on average €1,602 in annual expenditure per household. This number has since been increasing continuously, requiring drastic measures. It is, therefore, important that the energy sector is an example and a leader in this transition.

In 2021, France's real primary energy mix consisted of:

2.5% coal,
13.7% renewable energy and waste,
15.8% natural gas,
28.1% oil
40% nuclear.

To achieve carbon neutrality, several issues can be clearly identified as priorities, both for extractors, distributors and producers, but also for suppliers and equipment manufacturers:

The transition speed, in other words the replacement of energy sources with high CO2 emissions such as oil, coal and gas (which are becoming rarer) and the optimisation of their consumption,
The ability to generate new methods of responsible energy production at competitive costs (to limit household and industrial bills), either through inventions or innovations, or through the deployment of efficient technologies identified as already being with a low carbon footprint,
The gain of geopolitical independence in relation to the resources necessary for energy production, the security of energy flows and sites,
Energy sobriety, namely more reasoned and measured energy consumption by the different economic agents, considered a real challenge - and little considered politically until the war in Ukraine by European economies.

Renewable energies themselves are made up, in 2021, of:

4.4% biomass,
2.4% hydraulics,
1.3% biofuels,
1.3% heat pumps,
1.6% wind power and
1.9% from other sources.

DIAGNOSTIC

Biomimicry and energy: Bioxegy explains why taking inspiration from living things is relevant to improve and design simple and efficient technologies for the energy sector.

Advanced technological design (structures, shapes, resilience of materials, acoustics, tribology) for equipment manufacturers, optimisation, automation and storage for operators, the challenges are numerous and take multiple forms at various scales.

How can we define and develop impactful and sustainable innovation approaches?

Today, after 3.8 billion years of R&D, life is an endless source for developing simple and effective solutions. The mechanisms, functions and properties that persist are those which have allowed current living beings to be perfectly adapted to their environment.

Ranging from aquatic environments to arid environments, including tropical environments, living organisms have (almost) colonised the entire Earth. In each of them, the issues are extremely diverse: production and conversion of energy, consumption (properties linked to mass, efficient mechanical systems, thermoregulation, management of friction, etc.), passive systems, reduction of heat islands, and recycling of waste.

Energy is a precious resource in life. Its conservation is a problem at the heart of the survival of each species. They deploy sophisticated mechanisms to recover, store, route and use this energy in order to maximise the achievement/effort ratio. In short, biomimicry has very strong potential to advance the energy sector.

Below, a set of particularly relevant technical areas linked to energy to which biomimicry can perfectly respond:

The contributions of biomimicry in energy concern
the following areas: