Belarus is ready to implement complex energy-saving solutions, BelTA learned from Andrei Minenkov, Head of the Research and Technology Policy and Foreign Economic Ties Office of the Energy Effectiveness Department of the State Standardization Committee of Belarus, during the roundtable session held on 19 May to discuss an international project that the UNDP is implementing. The project envisages the development of an integrated approach to the expansion of the energy saving program. The event took place as part of the 13th national ecological forum.

Andrei Minenkov said: “Belarus has been working on energy saving for over 20 years. The country has created a serious system of measures to save energy and a good legal base that allows reaching goals and accomplishing tasks in this sphere. Rising prices for energy resources, energy-saving equipment and modern technologies are a general global trend. The cheapest projects with the fastest return on investments are already being implemented, but we are ready to implement complex energy-saving solutions. We approach them carefully since they require considerable financial investments.”

A lot is being done in Belarus to save energy and the pace of the work only gets more frantic all the time. The law on energy saving that was signed in January contributed a lot to the improvement of relevant practices. The official stated that energy saving should be understood as using resources as effectively as possible instead of saving resources for the sake of saving them.

The project for developing an integrated approach to the expansion of the energy saving program is designed to introduce modern energy-effective technologies in Belarus. Education is an important aspect of the project. Energy effectiveness awareness courses will be introduced in educational institutions. Behavioral models in people's daily life will be changed for the sake of using some simple energy effectiveness measures in the housing sector. Citizens will be involved in the implementation of energy-effective measures. A lot of other things will be implemented as well.

Truong Duy