Ultrafiltration with polymeric membranes is highly established in the production of drinking water as well as in dairy industry. In use conditions in industrial plants, membranes have to be frequently cleaned by physical and chemical treatments. These treatments avoid the bacterial development in the installations and eliminate the fouling which directly rises from filtration. The cleaning/disinfection solutions employed are selected on the basis of their oxidizing, acido-basic or bactericide properties. This is the case for sodium hypochlorite largely employed in water and dairy industries. The impact of chemical cleanings on the properties of the membranes is poorly documented but it seems that treatments are likely to undergo ageing of the polymer, which can lead to a drastic break of one or several membranes in a module. As the mechanisms leading to the degradation of membranes integrity are not elucidated, one cannot anticipate these phenomena. This aim of the project is to identify the mechanisms responsible for the membrane degradation at the molecular scale. This will bring the necessary knowledge on the degradation of the membranes in use conditions. It will be then possible to propose methodologies and tools allowing the study of the degradation of polymeric membranes in conditions of accelerated ageing representative of use conditions. The ageing of membrane is complex due to the simultaneous contribution of many factors. In this project, we propose then to focus on the ageing resulting only from chemical treatments. A multi-scale fundamental approach (processes, materials, interfaces) will be developed, which aims are : 1) to understand the mechanism of degradation of the membranes in conditions of use, 2) to define relevant protocols of accelerated ageing reproducing the damage caused at the molecular level due to cleaning/disinfection solutions on plant, 3) to identify the most relevant macroscopic parameters to follow and reveal this degradation, 4) to propose a strategy in order to increase the lifetime of the membranes. The architecture of the project makes it possible to simultaneously consider the two applications concerned: production of drinking water and filtration of skimmed milk. This is made possible by the fact that membranes used in both fields of application are based on the same polymer, which is polyethersulfone. The procedures of cleaning/disinfection are obviously specific to each application, but the variables are the concentration in oxidizing agent, the frequency of the cycles of cleaning and the temperature, parameters which could be modulated since the relevant protocols of ageing will have been identified. The knowledge of the relations between properties at the molecular level and macroscopic characteristics of material and their respective evolution in use conditions will constitute the first stage in the development of a tool for prediction of membranes lifetime.

A growing number of local authorities have the strong will to take concrete steps to tackle climate change by the implementation of local climate plans. Originally of an indicative nature, these plans are becoming more stringent in phase with the progressively more ambitious national and European targets. Their elaboration therefore increasingly requires studies that use a sound and rigorous economic approach. The scientific ambition of the project ?Integrated Territorial Economic Approach for Climate’ (AETIC in French) is to establish the basis of a generic, exhaustive and rigorous methodology for implementing cost effective climate and energy policies at the scale of urban territories. This methodology will be applied to the Grenoble Community of agglomeration and will lead to the analysis of its Local Climate Plan. The approach adopted in this project aims to identify, quantify and analyse in economic terms the whole set of GHG emission reduction options for an agglomeration in the three following major sectors: - The transport sector in connection with ?land-use’ and urban dynamic issues and the development of large scale infrastructure projects. - The building sector and the issues of thermal rehabilitation of the existing building stock. - The production and distribution sector of local and/or renewable energy. Consequently, the different abatement options identified will be organised by merit order according to their potentials and costs (through sets of Marginal Abatement Cost curves) so as to build an economically efficient GHG abatement program. In this study, the definition from the outset of two contrasted and systemic transport/land use scenarios will structure the choice and the possibility of implementing emission abatement options in the building and energy sectors. This articulation reflects the taking into account of the systemic and incremental dimensions of policies and technology implementation in the prospect of sustainable urban development. The project is developed for the agglomeration of Grenoble but one of its objectives is to test generic methodologies for the establishment of Local Climate Plans that are applicable to other cities.