Public Information Campaign

Abstract

Armenia is moving towards a market system and is faced with a sharp decrease in both living standards and production output. The political situation, continuing war and blockade has resulted in a severe energy crisis. It will be possible, however, to reduce the impact of the energy shortage by the immediate actions to reduce energy waste and promote a rational energy policy. The European Community’s Energy Center in Yerevan is intended to provide an energy saving assistance and to be in a focus of energy conservation activities in Armenia. The main objective of the Public Information Campaign is to stimulate energy saving activities (in both residential and industrial sectors of economy) and to interest energy end-users in idea of energy conservation as well as to create an image of the Energy Center as an active participant in energy management. Public Information Campaign is important since the knowledge and information about energy efficiency possibilities is a key element for implementation of energy efficiency strategy. Data about main energy consuming sectors of the economy (industrial and residential sectors), attitudes and preferences of energy end-users, energy saving opportunities, and media characteristics were gathered from primary and secondary sources of information. Among these were the Ministry of Energy and Fuel, Ministry of Economy, State TV and Radio Committee, Ministry of Justice, State Agency “Haimamul”, offices of Armenian newspapers, TV and radio programs as well as population surveys. The recommendations for organization of Public Information Campaign are given for two target sectors: residential and industrial. Implementation of the Public Information Campaign assumes dealing with many people and management of many variables. For effective distribution of information to energy consumption. Therefore, energy intensity in 1992 is almost twice the level of 1990. Electricity intensity follows the same path. With the decline in GDP and despite the drop in total electricity consumption, the intensity has almost doubled in 1992 compared to 1990. All houses in Armenia were constructed with the assumption that heating will be provided. Without normal heating, houses are quickly deteriorating. Most of homes were without heating in winter and the electricity supply was provided for only a few hours a day. Energy resources in Armenia are currently inadequate. Indigenous hydrocarbon supplies are limited to a few coal deposits, an important hydro-electrical potential is hampered by severe water shortages in the main lake Sevan. The country’s only nuclear plant was shut down following the 1988 earthquake, and supplies of natural gas and oil products have almost dried up due to political problems with neighboring countries and reduced Russian oil production. Under the present blockade, energy conservation is vital. Increasing the supply of energy from alternative sources faces major difficulties. Investing in an improved infrastructure will only be possible over a long period of time and will require massive financial resources. In the short term, the country will need to exist on a limited amount of energy. The EC Energy Center provides a range of activities to stimulate energy saving. The activities, provided by Energy Center are shown in Appendix1.