Under the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai at Announcement number 343/TB-VPCP dated December 4th 2009 on building an energy saving advocacy program to every province, bringing the program to every ward, commune, block, making energy efficiency an emulation target, a standard in the cultural family evaluation, the Hanoi People’s Committee, in coordination with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, organized the pilot campaign for the 2010 Energy Saving and Efficiency for Households in Hanoi, with the theme “Energy efficiency in every household is saving for you and for future generations”.

190 members attending the training course

The campaign’s main purpose is to raise awareness, to improve skills and to form the habit of using energy efficiently and economically in every member, every generation of a typical family, as well as to turn awareness into specific actions to carry out energy efficiency solutions in the community. Also within the framework of the campaign, training courses also are to be organized for representatives of many Women’s Union Branches in Hanoi.

According to the plan, at the Hoan Kiem District Politics Training Center, more than 190 women from many union branches in the district took part in the training courses for saving energy in households. These training courses were organized by Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Energy Efficiency Office, Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, and Hanoi Women’s Union.

These courses offer basic knowledge, very simple and easy to understand and apply in daily activities such as how to choose, design, install and use energy-consuming devices in households such as televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, irons, electric fans, rice cookers, etc.

Women always lead the campaigns

Because the content of the courses was highly practical, the participants were very concerned. Ms. Le Thi Lan (member of Hang Trong Ward Women’s Union) says that there were very simple ideas to save energy, but her family has wasted quite an amount of energy. Instructions from the courses helped us to understand and efficiently use devices in our houses, thereby, cutting down on the family’s energy cost as well as contributing to minimizing power shortages and alternative power cuts.

The campaign will be launched in every block in all 10 urban districts of Hanoi with approximately 100,000 households. There will be awards for “Energy Efficiency and Conservation Family” and “Typical Energy Efficiency and Conservation Family”.

Surveys carried out in Vietnam reveal power consumption in households account for 35 to 40% of the total national power consumption. On average, an urban resident spends from 5 to 7 million VNDs a year on energy, including lighting, hot water, cooking, electric fans, air conditioners, computers, TVs, transportation … Success of this campaign will contribute significantly to raising awareness among households on energy efficiency and conservation, thus avoiding wasteful energy consumption in this field.

Hoan Kiem is the first of 10 districts to start this training campaign. The remaining 9 districts will receive training courses in late June and July.

By Tran Quy