Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung made the remark during a conference held in Hanoi on December 16 to sum up the five-year enforcement of the Law on the economical and effective use of energy.
Acknowledging achievements in energy saving over the past time, he noted that they are yet to match potential in this field, reiterating a World Bank assessment that Vietnam’s industries are capable of saving 25-40 percent of energy. Accordingly, the saving of 1kWh of electricity is equivalent to only one-fourth of production costs for such amount of electricity.
The Deputy PM asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to acquire suggestions at the event and offer possible solutions to report to the government before January 31, 2017.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the national target programme on the economical and effective use of energy for 2011-2015 helped save 5.65 percent of energy consumption.
Almost industries used less energy during the period, including steel (down 8.09 percent), cement (6.33 percent) and textile (7.32 percent).
The ministry also reported that over 85 percent of population are aware of energy saving via the mass media.
Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Energy Do Duc Quan, however, admitted that financial support policies towards individuals and organisations involved in energy-saving projects remain asynchronous, saying that they find it hard to access preferential loans.
He suggested amending and supplementing several articles of the Law towards strengthening ministries, agencies and localities’ State management responsibilities in supervising and assessing the enforcement of the law as well as increasing compulsoriness in the compliance of the law, especially among energy-consuming facilities./.
VNA
