The CMA develops an original scientific approach through its fundamental competencies in modeling, mathematics of control and decision-making, and real-time computing, in order to tackle increasingly complex systems. This combination of fundamental disciplines means that systems can be approached via a range of themes reflecting major industrial challenges and societal issues. Our research projects thus include: climate issues (technologies, carbon, energy, water, depletion of materials), security of sensitive industrial sites, control systems for space, the connection between electricity and carbon markets, and electrical systems integrating renewable energy and smart grid technologies.

Over the last decade, the CMA has focused most of its activities on energy and climate.
During recent years, energy issues associated with climate change and globalization have raised new challenges, starting from 2000, with the opening up of the electricity and then gas markets in Europe. Since then, environmental constraints on greenhouse gas emissions linked to human activity, and in particular those associated with the energy chain (from upstream to downstream) have been attracting widespread attention. A number of solutions have been put forward aimed at reducing the volume of global emissions, which is established as a solution to combat climate change. Developments include:

• Emergence or recognition of concepts like: industrial ecology, energy efficiency, green economy, green growth, degrowth and carbon finance, etc. Some of these feature in climate agenda targets (e.g. energy efficiency savings)
• Promotion of new or established renewable energies, i.e. first- and second-generation biofuels, biomass, solar, wind power, sea energy (waves, pelamis, marine turbines, etc.) and geothermal energy, etc.
• Deployment or promotion of investment in technologies (or technological solutions), such as solar panels, batteries, smart grids, smart cities, smart buildings, etc.

In this context, the CMA’s control and decision-making mathematics offer a range of innovative approaches that are effective in analyzing complex systems specifically connected to climate issues (e.g. technologies, carbon, energy, water, rarefaction of materials). The CMA also applies this approach to investigate the maturity of electricity and carbon markets, and deal with the issues of deploying electrical systems integrating renewable energy and smart grid technologies.