Challenges in preparing for Environmental Technology Verification in a demonstration project: A case study of three innovative water treatment technologies

The European Union's Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) program aims to foster innovative environmental technologies to reach the market and reassure potential users. This paper presents an investigation of using ETV for three technologies, being developed within the EU Zero Brine research and innovation project. The technologies were designed to recover high quality water, salts and minerals from brine solutions. The technologies in focus are the forward feed MED evaporator, the Multi Feed – Plug Flow Reactor Crystalliser and Eutectic Freeze Crystallization. The study sought to understand the challenges of the ETV process, the readiness and eligibility of technologies, and possible preparations within the project lifetime. Challenges identified included: understanding what sufficient market readiness is, and achieving this within the duration of a project (also linked to funding allocation for the ETV process); and developing suitable performance claims, supported with sufficient levels of test data. A simple framework is presented to aid the integration of ETV into the development process. It promotes the use of life cycle assessment to understand the environmental added value of the technology and aid the development of performance claims.