Approved by 85.8% of the Congress representatives (98.37% of the 430 present reps.), the Congress has passed the bill on Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC) this morning.

This is a specialized law consisting of 12 Chapters and 48 Articles. Chapter 1 regulates general issues that pertain to principles; Chapter 2 is about EEC in industrial production; Chapter 3 is EEC in public lighting and construction; Chapter 4 is EEC in transportation; Chapter 5 is EEC in agricultural production; Chapter 6 is EEC in service and household activities; Chapter 7 is EEC in projects and offices using government fund; Chapter 8 is EEC in intensive energy users; Chapter 9 is about managing energy-using vehicles and appliances; Chapter 10 is solutions to encourage EEC.

According to the Law, objects under the bill belong to one of the two groups. The first group includes ones that use large amounts of energy, and is called intensive energy consumers, including industrial establishments, public constructions, and transportation establishments. This group must be controlled under clear regulations and specific award/punishment procedures. The other group using less energy consists of resident’s community, medium-sized and small-sized firms. This group is encouraged rather than forced to observe the law.

The difference between the two groups is that the compulsory group has to conduct energy audit, make annual plans, and prepare specific solutions to save energy. Also, this group has to file an energy report to higher authorities and assign energy management officers to be responsible for constructing and helping the management carry out the executing plans.

The group that uses government funds, such as office buildings, road lighting, and public lighting, is also required to comply with regulations in this Law. The Law also clearly states the responsibility that the manager holds, and the specific procedures to be taken if it is ignored.

For the resident’s community, primary solutions are encouraging families to take part in limiting power consumption in peak hours and purchasing electrical appliances that are energy efficiency.

The Law is not only necessary and suitable for the current condition but also of prime importance to the country in the future, said Mr. Dang Vu Minh, Chairman of the Congress’s Committee for Science, Technology and the Environment.

According to a MOIT’s report, the national demand for energy in 2007 was 30.1 million TOE, given the average annual growth rate of energy demand of 12% during 1990-2006. On the other hand, energy is wasted on a large scale. The energy utility efficiency in coal and petrol-run power stations is as low as 28-32%, 10% lower than that of other developing countries. The efficiency rate of industrial boilers only reaches 60%, 20% lower than the world’s average. As a result, for the same product, we spend as much as 1.5-1.7 times the energy amount of other countries.

 Minh Nguyen