This year's Earth Hour campaign was officially approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade launched on March 25 with a series of communication activities including as short film contest, collecting fingerprints as a commitment to saving energy and mitigating against climate change, organizing a Green Movement, and encouraging cycling to respond to Earth Hour.

A ceremony to launch the 2013 Earth Hour campaign in Ho Chi Minh City was held in the Cultural Youth House on March 3.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade on February 25 announced that the 2013 Earth Hour Campaign will be from 8.30pm to 9.30pm on March 23.

With an aim to raise women's awareness of energy efficiency so that they and their family members can use energy effectively, recently, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Association of Women in Bac Giang province launched a campaign for model families using energy efficiently in Bac Giang city.

On 24th November 2012, HCM City Energy Conservation Center (ECC HCM) held a seminar on Green Architecture to share useful information about green buildings and to discuss measures to promote the construction of green projects in Vietnam in the office of HCM Department of Science and Technology.

As many industries and businesses have not recognized that energy labeling is a competitive advantage, they have not been determined to renovate technology, nor to improve product quality. They fear that the investment will increase production costs.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Journalists' Association launched a press contest on November 12 in Hanoi to improve people's understanding of energy efficiency and conservation in 2012.

On 30th October, Da Nang Power Company Limited reviewed the program "Family saving power in 2012", which was implemented in 3 months from June to August.

Bac Ninh Power Company, with its leading role, has coordinated with local offices, businesses and related units to carry out various energy saving measures such as propaganda, encouraging, pledging, etc to make energy saving a habit of local people.

Currently, many offices and businesses are using energy wastefully, causing double loss to themselves and to the national economy.

More than 100 trainees participating in this training course are leaders and technical staffs of nearly 50 businesses in which 30 businesses are key energy consumption units entire the city.

In order to raise awareness of efficient energy use, on October 22nd, Dong Nai Department of Industry and Trade organized a training course on Law on Energy Efficiency and Conservation and guidance on the implementation of the relevant documents for staffs of state management agencies and industrial enterprises entire the province.

To improve rural living standards and to popularize biogas energy among people, especially women, at the same time implementing the programme for energy efficiency and waste treatment, Ninh Binh Women Federation has initiated the project “Households using biogas to save energy” in the whole province.

On 12 October, 2012, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade signed the Decision number 6061/QD-BCT on the designation of a laboratory which will be employed to test energy output for equipment engaging in the Energy labeling program.

mplementing national target program on energy efficiency and conservation in 2012 approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, on 21 September 2012, Danang Department of Industry and Trade in collaboration with Energy Efficiency Office, Ministry of Industry and Trade organized a conference on energy efficiency.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Song Lo 3 hydroelectric power plant was held in the northern province of Ha Giang on December 21.

The Binh Dinh provincial People’s Committee has allowed the Phuong Mai joint stock company to develop the project.

After a long period of making research, Cu and his co-workers have successfully made biofuels from ethanol with the concentration of 92 percent and higher, while no need to use anhydrous ethanol. Ethanol 92 percent means that there are 92 percent of pure alcohol and 8 percent of water in a unit.

Ho Chi Minh City plans to invest around VND1.4 trillion (US$70 million) in bio-technology during the period 2010-2015, with 89 percent of the amount or VND1.2 trillion coming from state budget.

The Japanese House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations adopted an agreement on cooperating, developing and using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes between Japan and Vietnam on December 2.

“We are compiling a set of assessment standards for high buildings and urban areas,” said Nguyen Van Tat, vice chairman of the architects association, to the Daily at the seminar on green solutions for project development on Thursday.

Ninh Thuan Province said on Monday the development of two nuclear power projects would serve as a catalyst to attract more investment into the central province, despite earlier warnings that investors would walk away over safety concerns.

Experts are urging the Government to provide industry with tax breaks and access to credit to encourage the use of energy-efficient technologies.

Accordingly, the two sides will go ahead with My Ly and Nam Mo hydroelectric power projects in Ky Son district, Nghe An province, and draw up plans for further cooperation and investment in hydropower between Vietnam and Laos.

Thus, the rate of power loss has reduced over the years. In 1997, power loss of medium voltage grid of the whole company was 10.35%, was 4.24% in 2010 and decreased to 3.66% in the first 6 months of 2011. Calculating by the current electric prices, with 1% of power loss reduced, Bac Ninh Power Company saves VND 10.5 billion for the State.

Attending the conference were energy experts, energy managers, electric equipment manufacturers and more than 100 enterprises in the province of Dong Nai.