Main News
New EN 17507 to help Improve Measuring the Emissions of Road Vehicle A better integration of alternative fuels infrastructure, thanks to the CEN and CENELEC Guide 38
To accelerate the development of alternative fuels, multifuel stations integration is fundamental. CEN and CENELEC developed the new Guide 38 to facilitate the integration of alternative fuels at existing fueling stations and to give guidance to design, authorize and operate new multifuel stations in support of the Directive 2014/94/EU on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure and of the future Regulation replacing the directive. This CEN and CENELEC Guide also considers other legislations impacting multifuel stations (ATEX, PED, MID).
This new Guide is the result of a brilliant collaborative work led in the Working Group "Multifuel stations" of the CEN and CENELEC Sector Forum Gas Infrastructure, with experts of different technical committees involved in various fuels (natural gas, hydrogen, LPG). A large consultation was conducted to all the relevant CEN and CENELEC Technical Committees (CEN-CLC/JTC 6, CEN/TC 301, CLC/TC 69X, CEN/TC 268, CEN/TC 286, CEN/TC 326, CEN/TC 393, and CEN/TC 408) and coordination group (CEN-CLC/eMCG). Through Guide 38, the technical committees involved in the standardization of alternative fuels infrastructure will have a better view on how to ensure the global coherence of the integrated infrastructure when developing their respective standards.
COP26: A New Policy Paper Highlights the Contribution of Standards to the Fight Against Climate Change
On the occasion of COP26, CEN and CENELEC released the new policy paper “Uniting the world to tackle climate change: COP26 and the commitments of European Standards”. In the document, the two European Standardization Organizations reaffirm their commitment to contributing to the fight against climate change and raise awareness on the actions they are taking to contribute to addressing these challenges.
In particular, the policy paper highlights the role of standards in contributing to the green transition: “Standards foster the process of innovation and encourage the faster development of more environmentally friendly technologies and materials. Whether it is by specifying tests or providing robust definitions that avoid misleading environmental claims, standards have a key role to play in addressing the climate emergency.”
Based on this potential, the standardization community stands ready to play their part in ensuring that both Europe and the world are equipped to deliver the social and economic transition necessary to reduce the effects of climate change, while also helping to deliver the infrastructure necessary to increase the planet’s resilience to adapt to its impacts. The full text of the Policy Paper is available here.
World’s First Non-Cellular 5G Technology, ETSI DECT-2020, Gets ITU-R Approval
ETSI DECT-2020 NR, the world’s first non-cellular 5G technology standard, has been recognized by the WP5D of the International Telecommunication Union’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) and included as part of the 5G standards in IMT-2020 technology recommendation. Dr. Günter Kleindl, Chair of the ETSI Technical Committee DECT, says: “With our traditional DECT standard we already received IMT-2000 approval by ITU-R twenty-one years ago, but the requirements for 5G were so much higher, that we had to develop a completely new, but compatible, radio standard.” Released last year, the standard sets an example of future connectivity: the infrastructure-less and autonomous, decentralized technology is designed for massive IoT networks for enterprises. It has no single points of failure and is accessible to anyone, costing only a fraction of the cellular networks both in dollars and in carbon footprint.
The IoT standard, defined in ETSI TS 103 636 series, brings 5G to the reach of everyone as it lets any enterprise set up and manage its own network autonomously with no operators anywhere in the world. It eliminates network infrastructure, and single point of failure - at a tenth of the cost in comparison to cellular solutions.
New EN 15942 Helps Harmonize How Environmental Product Declarations for Construction Products Are Communicated in Europe
Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) present quantified environmental information on the life cycle of a product, thus enabling comparisons between products fulfilling the same function. They are based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, as described in the EN ISO 14040 series of standards. EPD promote transparency and increase awareness around the environmental impact of products. They support manufacturers in substantiating environmental claims and optimizing their supply chain and allow buyers to make informed product comparisons.
The recently published standard EN 15942:2021 'Sustainability of construction works - Environmental product declarations - Communication format business-to-business' aims at harmonizing the way in which Environmental Product Declarations are communicated in Europe. This document is applicable to all construction products and services related to buildings and construction works. It details the communication format of the information defined in the related standard EN 15804 'Sustainability of construction works – Environmental product declarations – Product category rules'.