The Hanoi Times - Hundreds of small and medium businesses in Viet Nam have reduced their energy costs by about 50 per cent after implementing energy saving solutions from the Ministry of Science and Technology's energy conservation project.The five-year project, which began in 2006, is financed by the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Fund with US$29 million.Vietnamese small and medium sized enterprises last year saved 30,800 of oil TOE (tonne of energy) and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 120,000 tonnes.Nguyen Ba Vinh, manager of the Promoting Energy Conservation in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (PECSME) Project, said more than 50 per cent of enterprises producing bricks, ceramic, pottery, paper, textiles and garments used backward technologies that wasted a huge amount of energy and negatively impacted the environment.SMEs in the five industries are particularly supported by the project. Vinh said the enterprises would get financial support for energy auditing, technology transfer and loan guarantees for 75 per cent of the investment made for energy conservation.According to experts, the project will help SMEs in Viet Nam cut 10 to 15 per cent of production expenses or hundreds of billions of dong every year through updated production technologies.Until 2010, the project will have 500 SMEs reduce their average energy cost per unit of production by 10-15 per cent, saving around 136,000 tons of oil and cutting CO2 emission by 962,000 tonnes.According to the project management board, so far 370 out of the 500 SMEs have been supported by the project.Vinh said last year the project carried out 149 sub-projects in total to propagate and help enterprises in 20 provinces and cities update their production technologies, o­ne less than targeted. In 2006 and 2007, a total of 221 projects were carried out and another 150 had been targeted for 2009, he added. By the end of last year, 23 enterprises had been given loan guarantees worth $630,000 to renovate their production technology, against the target of 30. All businesses benefiting from the project have been able to save between 15 to 50 per cent of their energy costs for each finished product. Vinh cited enterprises in the pottery village of Bat Trang as an example. With financial support programmes, many local businesses have switched from traditional furnaces to gas-powered o­nes to save energy and become more environmentally friendly.In 2007, 20 energy efficient furnaces were built and 3,000 tonnes of oil saved, with 14,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions cut, Vinh said.Dr Pham Huu Giuc, an official of the Ministry of Science and Technology who is director of the project, told a meeting in Quang Ninh Province last week that this year, the project would be strengthened to raise awareness among businesses about energy conservation and environment protection.Giuc said that at least another 150 SMEs would enroll in the project this year and apply energy saving methods.The HCM City Energy Conservation Centre (ECC - HCM City) said the lack of official legal regulations o­n energy use was a hurdle to carrying out energy conservation programmes.Huynh Kim Tuoc, head of the centre, said the Ministry of Science and Technology had proposed a draft regulation o­n energy usage, urging application of advanced technology for saving energy in production and transportation. The regulation was expected to be issued this year.It would be a basis for preserving the nation's power resources and raising awareness among the public about energy conservation, Tuoc said, adding that a series of energy related policies were already being applied.The campaign begun last year to have energy-efficient flourescent bulbs used by households and in public lighting systems, and the affixing of energy-saver stamps o­n electronic products was an example, he added.