Vietnam has the best wind resources in Southeast Asia and it has 2000-2500 sunny hours a year, but Vietnam has yet to explore these sources of energy. Scientists and leaders agree, Vietnam must take the necessary steps to protect its environment through clean energy sources.
At an international workshop on new energy held by the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park on December 21, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Nam Hai asserted that the need for energy is quickly increasing.
Vietnam’s consumption of energy rose from 4.2 million tons of oil in 1990 to nearly 11.6 million tons in 2000 and 19.6 million tons in 2004. As of 2015, the country will become an energy importer.
“Vietnam’s sources of regenerated energy are abundant and can replace fossil fuels to reduce the environmental impact,” Hai emphasized. “Exploitation of these sources are very necessary”.
Le Tuan Phong, Vice-Chief of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Energy Department, cited statistics of 2000-2500 sunny hours a year, equivalent to 44 million tons of oil. Vietnam also has wind energy of to 500-1400 kWh/sq.m/year and energy generated by wood and agricultural products yearly that are equivalent to 43-46 million tons of oil.
Phong said that these resources of energy have not been properly exploited. His ministry has finalized a regenerated energy development plan and will set up an agency to control regenerated energy and encourage its use in remote areas.
Considered the cleanest form of energy, geothermy has also not been explored in Vietnam. Dr. Doan Van Tuyen from the Institute for Geology said that Vietnam ‘s potential for geothermy is about average for Asia, with more than 200 water and mineral streams.
“In Hanoi, underground hot water is a good source for building park complexes and hot mineral water residential areas,” advanced Tuyen. “We can even explore geothermy for air-conditioning.”
He added that Hanoi consumes around 5 billion kilowatts of electricity a year, half of which is for air conditioning. With geothermy, the city can save 800 billion dong a year, while the CO2 emissions can be reduced by 250,000 tons.
Dr. Nghiem Vu Khai, Vice-Chair of the National Assembly’s Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, commented: “I’ve been to the UN Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen and I saw that the world is facing severe climate change. Vietnam is among the five countries suffering most from this phenomenon. It is extremely important to use regenerated energy.”
To explore these sources of clean energy, a US company specializing in solar energy, Cenergy Power, will train 100 Vietnamese engineers. Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Van Lang said that this is just the first step because local universities also need to train people for this industry.