Muscovites remain in the dark about energy saving

Russia’s nascent interest in energy efficiency is driven less by a desire to go green than by the realization that energy demand could soon outstrip resources.

Moscow’s growing energy hunger has been putting the aging electricity grid under pressure for some time. Russia is now the world’s fourth-largest consumer of electricity. In the last four years, the country’s consumption has risen by almost 22 percent.
It was the 2006 cold snap that persuaded city authorities to launch the first major energy-awareness campaign in post-Soviet Russia. The result is billboards urging Muscovites to switch to energy-saving light bulbs. The posters will stay up until the end of the year.

Environmentalists have largely welcomed the initiative as a first step toward combating wasteful habits in Russia, which is the world’s third-largest polluter.

But Igor Bashmakov, the head of the Moscow-based independent Center for Energy Efficiency, says Muscovites are not being encouraged to save energy for the sake of the planet.

“Last winter, when it was very cold, they were unable to meet the demand for electricity,” Bashmakov said. “They had to limit industrial enterprises. This is what prompted Moscow authorities to start this campaign. I don’t think ecological considerations played any role here.”

Moscow has asked Kosmos, a Russian company that sells light bulbs under its own brand, to carry out the campaign. Under the deal, Kosmos foots the advertising bill but is given a discounted rate.

The company has come up with two different posters. One shows the black silhouette of a light bulb and the slogan: “Save energy.” The second poster features lights, either yellow or gray, on a black background. The same slogan is written beneath a traditional light bulb with an arrow pointing to an energy-saving bulb.

Energy Publisher