1 Scope
The gas supply companies, in the widest sense of their activities (production, transport,
distribution), have a long tradition in ensuring that networks and facilities are
operated according to well-defined procedures. These procedures are the centrepiece
of quality management systems. They are based on the general criteria of the series
ISO 9000 and are currently being developed gas-specifically as EQAS (European Quality Assurance
System) in CEN/TC 234 in order to adhere more efficiently to the procedures peculiar
to the gas activities. Companies are more and more inclined to take into account environmental
aspects since the series ISO 14000 resulting in EMAS (Environment Management System). As both the series and the system
possess a similar structure, the measures to be taken are directly linked to the technical
operations and therefore cannot be dissociated from them.
Environmental issues are expected to feature increasingly in CEN standardisation as
the European Commission and its affiliated Member States press ahead with an array
of proposals for potential directives. These directives are aimed at boosting the
reduction of energy consumption, reducing emissions to air/water and, more generally,
at forcing industry to consider any process which may have adverse impacts on the
environment.
The CEN Sector Forum Gas Infrastructure (CEN/SFG_I) will take this opportunity to
demonstrate through EQAS, the effectiveness of gas companies in this area who are
continuously looking for the best technologies (although natural gas is by nature
an environmentally friendly energy in comparison with other fossil fuels).
Environmental guides are ot...