Announced in London yesterday (17 June) by Defra’s Dan Rogerson, the voluntary scheme aims to increase the uptake of green technologies and help overcome a lack of confidence still associated with some green products. ETV will become an official proof verification for companies working in the water, waste and energy sectors.

Under ETV, businesses or entrepreneurs take their product to a verification body where its performance would be assessed, reviewed and tested. Claims about new innovations would be verified to ensure they are both credible and scientifically sound before the product is given an official ‘Statement of Verification’ by a qualified third-party organisation.

Rogerson said the ultimate aim of ETV is to increase investor and customer confidence of the standards of new green products.

“Green technologies are important for the environment while also providing a huge growth opportunity,” he said. “The ETV scheme will help purchasers to identify British innovation and bring our green technologies to market sooner, benefitting both businesses and the environment.”

Informed decisions

The UK’s first verification bodies for ETV will include the National Physics Laboratory’s (NPL) Centre for Carbon Measurement, the Water Research Centre, the European Marine Energy Centre and BRE Global. The scheme has already been implemented in similar forms in the USA, China, Japan, Korea, Canada and the Philippines and there are ongoing negotiations in a number of EU member states.

Jessica Cross Brown, a research analyst at the NPL’s Centre for Carbon Measurement, explained that official standards cannot keep up with the rate of innovation and development in green technologies. “Not only does ETV allow companies to prove how their products perform when it matters, it also helps customers make informed decisions when purchasing a green product,” she said.

The NPL’s Centre for Carbon Measurement has already begun working with companies and is making use of the ETV pilot scheme such as with Greengage Lighting Limited, which provides energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for agriculture.

Azeez Ashiru, technical development engineer at Greengage Lighting Limited, said: “Having our light ‘rubber-stamped’ by NPL through the ETV scheme gives our customers around the world confidence that our product does what we say it does, and that it is safe and efficient.”

VIDEO: Environmental Technology Verification UK

Matt Field

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