The Centre for Bio-technology Research and Application complex now under construction in southern Dong Nai Province is expected to be one of the leading centres of its kind in Southeast Asia, according to Nguyen Quan, deputy minister of Science and Technology. Expected to be completed within the decade, the 227-ha complex is being built in Xuan Duong Commune in Cam My District.

VietnamPlus and Siemens signed a partnership agreement in Hanoi on Oct. 21 whereby VietnamPlus will be the media sponsor for Siemens Green Technology Journalism Award 2010. This award is created for the first time in ASEAN in order to acknowledge and reward journalists for excellent reporting on energy efficiency, industrial productivity and sustainability issues. It is open to print and online media from Indonesia , Malaysia , the Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and Vietnam.

Works such as leveling an area of 251ha, building bypass road south of Hau river, compensating and site clearing, resettling 315 households… have been completed. The constructions of roads, electricity system, water supply system, embankments along Hau river in the plant construction site and coal slag dumping area ... are being expeditiously implemented to be completed on schedule.

First announced in 2006, the facility represents an investment commitment of $1 billion and opens up extensive new opportunities for economic development in Vietnam. The facility is the largest assembly and test factory in Intel’s global manufacturing network, with a total area of 46,000 square meters, equal to the size of 5 ½ football fields. Production commenced in the middle of this year, starting with production of chipsets for laptops and mobile devices for Intel customers worldwide.

Vietnam wants to further promote cooperation with Japan, the country’s top partner, in the spirit of strategic partnership for mutual benefit, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. At a reception for former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and the Japanese parliamentarian delegation in Hanoi on Oct. 25, PM Dung suggested that both countries should join efforts to expand trade and investment to match with their potential.

A workshop was held recently by a gas engine research team of the Da Nang University with support of Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) through the Go Green Program to assess the results of the implementation of the second stage of the project titled “Small-scaled Electricity Production from Biogas” in some provinces of central Vietnam.

In Chau Khe, Dinh Bang (Bac Ninh Province), more than 800 households are involved in iron and steel production. To temper and laminate steel, they consume about 200 million kWh of electricity and 30,000 tonnes of coal, and total expenditure on energy consumption amounts to VND150 billion each year. Such high energy consumption is attributed to the use of outdated technologies and equipment as well as insulated steel furnaces. At some stages of steel production, the rate of energy losses is 20-25 percent.

Vietnam’s first two nuclear power plants will be built in the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan, with Plant No. 1 located in Vinh Truong village of Phuoc Dinh commune and the other in Thai An village of Vinh Hai commune.

On October 18th, Phu Tho Department of Investment and Planning anounced that provincial People's Committee of Phu Tho granted the certificate of investment for the Construction project of Biomass bio-power plant at Rung Xanh area, Phong Chau town, Phu Ninh district. The unit implementing this project is Vietnam Hi-tech Bio-renewable Energy Joint Stock Company.

The first success of engineer Phuong is replacing fluorite made in China by fluorite made in Vietnam in E7018 blend to produce E7018 F3,2 soldering stick, coating drug for pressed waste (J420 and J421) and replacing entire of imported burning ilmenite by domestic burning ilmenite to produce J420 soldering stick, ensuring the product quality and the initiative in materials for production.

Diamond Plaza, recognized as one of the most beautiful buildings in Vietnam, has twice been rewarded as "the ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations) Energy Efficient Building". The building always obeys strictest regulations in design, construction and operation to guarantee aesthetic effects and energy efficiency to meet demands of a "Green Building".

After renewing the house, Mr Hieu and his wife decide to reuse the decorative since they thought it is still very new. However, being put into use, the chandelier has caused a complicated problem as it consumes a lot of electricity and is very hot. The chandelier has three tiers, with about 26 40W bulbs, so it consumes 1.040W per lighting hour. Then the chandelier has been“retired” once again after a month.

More than 300 students in HCM City on Sunday took part in activities for the International 350 Day for Climate Change. Together with millions of people around the globe, they raised their voices about climate change and environment protection. The students made a painting of five-by-five metres, and 260 small paintings that were combined to depict the number 1,000 in celebration of Ha Noi’s millenium anniversary.

In the middle of November 2010, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will host the Business forum for sustainable development with the theme: "Promoting and strengthening the participation of related parties in the process of implementing sustainable development. "

The management of the exploration and exploitation of natural resources should be strengthened to preserve valuable assets for younger generations, according to attendants of a conference in Ha Noi last week. This idea was put forth by experts from several sectors to discuss the draft of the amended law on mineral resources exploitation.

Vietnam ’s first wind power turbine production factory was inaugurated at the Nomura industrial zone in the northern port city of Hai Phong on October 15. The 61 million USD project, invested by the US-based GE group, rolled out over 200 turbines for export in the past five months of test run.

According to architect Pham Minh Hieu of Song Da Thang Long Joint Stock Company, the design of window for any architectural space needs to focus on the air convection. The sizes of window can be various, depending on the structure of the house and hobbies of the owner.

In fact, Phu Tho Province has implemented 30 models of cleaner production. However, these programs have not attracted participation of industrial and craft production cooperatives and craft villages which have made important contribution to local industrial development and created jobs for local people. Because there is a lack of policies on application of cleaner production in craft villages and cooperatives, therefore, information on cleaner production still remain insufficient.

Participating in the course, trainees will be equipped with systematic knowledge and management skills and techniques on energy efficiency. With that knowledge, businesses will not only save costs and gain markedly economic benefits but will also be more active when the Law on Energy Efficiency and Conservation is officially enforced from 01/01/2011.

Explaining about the concept of green architecture which is applied in this construction, architect Duong Hong Hien said that the direction of the house must be determined first. The project consists of two parts: the 120 room hotel and 22 villas. Direction of the hotel is East - West is but of the villa is North - South.

The conference is to assess the results of the phase II of the project "Production of small scale electricity from biogas" in some central provinces, conducted by the air engine researching team of the University of Da Nang (UD) with the support of Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) through the Go Green program.

On September 26th, Thai An Hydropower Joint Stock Company inaugurated Thai An Hydropower Plant - one of 15 key projects to celebrate the 15th Party Congress of Ha Giang province. Thai An Hydropower Plant is built in Thai An commune (Quan Ba district) and Thuan Hoa commune (Vi Xuyen district). The plant has the capacity of 82MW, with the total investment of more than VND2,000 billion, According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Dao, Chairman of the Board, General Director of Thai An Hydropower JSC.

A delegation representing 15 Finnish enterprises said here on Tuesday they wanted to look for local partners to develop renewable energy, wastewater treatment, industrial waste management and other environmental technologies. Some of the Finnish companies introduced their clean technologies at a seminar held here on Tuesday were Neste Oil Corporation, Cargotec, GD Power, Kemira, Fincumet, YIT and Outotec.

Realizing that natural resources are limited, Holcim Vietnam Limited since 2003 has aimed at sustainable production development by increasing the use of waste materials as main energies to replace fossil fuels at its Hon Chong cement plant in Kien Giang Province.

From 2006 to 2010, the project "Promoting Energy Conservation in Small and Medium Scale Enterprise - PECSME", funded by the Global Environment Fund and managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, has implemented 201 projects in the brick manufacturing industry, 144 projects in ceramics - porcelain, 81 projects in the food processing industry, 35 projects in the textile-garment and 38 projects in the paper industry.

According to "Nikkei" of Japan issued on 22nd September, the Itochu Corporation of Japan and Qatar Petroleum are having final discussions on building a petrochemical production complex in Vietnam. According to Qatar Vice President and Minister of Energy, these two groups would build a petrochemical production complex in Long Son (Vung Tau) with a total investment of about $ 4 billion.