Energy efficiency

In the beginning of December, the Head of the Russian Government Dmitry Medvedev approved the implementation plan of the state program ‘Energy Efficiency and Energy Development’ for 2014-2016, which implies an approximately seven billion rubles increase in financing for energy projects. However, just a few days later, a Ministry of Energy representative declared that in the next three years the state support for regional energy efficiency programs was going to wind down to zero.

Three quarters of Russians believe climate change is a threat to human existence, and one third is absolutely sure of this, according to results of a public opinion poll by the Global Challenges Foundation in Stockholm. Representatives of non-governmental environmental organizations believe that the climate change comes out of the sphere of scientific discussion and becomes a pressing issue for residents of Russia.

Comparative efficiencies of different measures to combat climate change are unclear. The Economist has presented an assessment for effectiveness of various efforts to prevent emissions of greenhouse gases. The Russian Social Ecological Union believes that the key way to solve the problem of climate change is combining development of a variety of renewable energy sources and reduction of energy consumption due to energy conservation and efficiency.

Banks are one of the biggest sources of funds for promotion of energy efficiency programs. A substantial part of the activities in this direction can be carried out by energy service contracts - the potential of this market is at least 500 billion roubles a year. According to the Russian Social Ecological Union, the key condition for achieving the Government's objectives for energy efficiency is cooperation between the state, the public, businesses and banks.

 Russian Social Ecological Union implements the information campaign "Energy efficiency is the biggest, cleanest and cheapest energy source in Russia." This campaign aims to show the public and other stakeholders that the potential resources of energy efficiency in our country can free up a huge amount of energy that can be used for the needs of power consumption.

From May 2013 to April 2014, the Russian Social Ecological Union implements the information campaign "Energy efficiency is the biggest, cleanest and cheapest energy source in Russia."

This campaign aims to show the public and other stakeholders that the potential resources of energy efficiency in our country can free up a huge amount of energy that can be used for the needs of power consumption.

The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation has started discussions of the "Energy Strategy of Russia until 2035." The last update of the document was made five years ago. The Climate Secretariat of the Social Ecological Union comments the paragraphs of the Energy Strategy, most important from the standpoint of public environmental organizations.

From May 2013 to April 2014, the Russian Social Ecological Union implements the information campaign "Energy efficiency is the biggest, cleanest and cheapest energy source in Russia."