ISO AND ENERGY | GREAT THINGS HAPPEN WHEN THE WORLD AGREES
THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION
ISO and energy — What does it mean for the rigging industry, and how does it help? Read on for ISO’s guest post and learn more about ISO and the energy industry.
ISO is:
- An Independent, non-governmental organization
- A global network of national standards bodies with one-member per country
- Create International Standards
- Coordinated by a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland
- Are not-for-profit—Selling their standards allows them to finance their development in a neutral environment, maintain standards & make new ones
- Provides a platform for developing practical tools through common understanding and cooperation with all stakeholders.
WHY DO WE NEED ISO STANDARDS FOR ENERGY?
Over 1.2 billion people around the world do not have access to electricity, yet world energy production is at its highest ever and is expected to increase by up to 30 % by 2030*. What’s more, the earth is warming at unprecedented rates, largely due to man-made greenhouse gases that are causing havoc to our climate. Increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewables is key to meeting the world’s energy demands while contributing to global targets to reduce carbon emissions.
Energy is the major contributor to climate change, making up 60% of total greenhouse gas emissions.
WHO BENEFITS FROM ISO STANDARDS FOR ENERGY?
WHAT ENERGY SECTORS DOES ISO COVER?
ISO covers sectors which include:
- Construction
- Renewable energy
- IT and household appliances
- Transportation
- Industrial products & processes
- Power generation
- Wind power
- Hydrogen
WHAT STANDARDS DOES ISO HAVE FOR
ENERGY?
Out of a total of over 22 000 International Standards, ISO has more than 200 related to energy efficiency and renewables, with many more in development.
Below is a selection of ISO’s standards for energy:
Carbon capture and storage
ISO has published a number of standards that facilitate the use of this innovative technology, which consists of extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from large stationary sources and injecting them into a geologic storage formation for safe and secure disposal.
- ISO/TC 265, Carbon dioxide capture, transportation and geological storage
Energy management
In addition to ISO 50001 on energy management systems (see Box overleaf), our most widely used energy-related standard, ISO has developed standards on energy performance indicators, the measurement, analysis and verification of energy performance, as well as methodologies for the calculation of energy savings in projects, organizations and regions.
- ISO/TC 301, Energy management and energy savings
Environmental management
Alongside ISO 14001 for environmental management, ISO 14064 on the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gases and ISO 14025 on environmental labels and declarations are just some of the many standards that help organizations reduce their environmental impact through smarter energy usage.
- ISO/TC 207, Environmental management
Buildings
Energy consumption in buildings accounts for over 20 % of total primary energy use worldwide 1), and up to 40 % in developed economies such as the United States and the EU 2), and it is on the rise. ISO has a number of standards that help make buildings more energy-efficient, covering everything from the design of the whole building to its individual parts. This includes the ISO 52000 family of standards, which takes a holistic approach to improving the energy performance of buildings. It contains a comprehensive method of assessing energy performance as the total primary energy used for heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation and domestic hot water of buildings, thus supporting new technologies and approaches to building design and management.
- ISO/TC 163, Thermal performance and energy use in the built environment
- ISO/TC 205, Building environment design
Information Technology
Standards that address the performance of information and communication technology (ICT) and household appliances are key players in reducing energy consumption. The new ISO/IEC 30134 series of standards, developed in conjunction with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), aims to make ICT products more energy-efficient.
- ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 39, Sustainability for and by information technology
Transportation
New technology is making inroads in reducing the energy consumption and polluting emissions of vehicles, but there is still a long way to go. ISO standards help pave the way for these technologies by providing useful tools to support their development. These include standards such as ISO 16923 and ISO 16924 for the design and operation of stations dispensing compressed and liquefied natural gas to vehicles, ISO 8714 for measuring the reference energy consumption of electric passenger cars, and ISO 23274 for measuring exhaust emissions and fuel consumption in hybrid vehicles. Other related documents feature ISO/TS 19880, a technical specification that recommends the minimum safety characteristics for hydrogen fuelling stations. In addition, the ISO 6469 series provides safety specifications for rechargeable energy storage systems for electric cars.
- ISO/TC 22/SC 37, Electrically propelled vehicles
- ISO/TC 197, Hydrogen technologies
Industrial products and processes
ISO has standards to increase the performance and effectiveness of machines and equipment, including refrigeration and air-conditioning systems, automation systems, industrial fans, air and gas cleaning equipment and more.
- ISO/TC 115, Pumps
- ISO/TC 117, Fans
- ISO/TC 184, Automation systems and integration
Renewables
ISO has published over 50 standards for solar energy systems and biofuels, namely standards for performance ratings and test methods, solar heating, solar panels and solid biofuels. Future technical work will cover solar thermal collectors and the safety of solid biofuel pellets.
- ISO/TC 180, Solar energy
- ISO/TC 238, Solid biofuels
