New guidelines issued for energy conservation

New guidelines for the thrifty use of energy were issued by the Commissioner General of Essential Services, as the war in the Middle East region may cause obstacles when importing fuel to the country.

The Commissioner General of Essential Services, B. K. Prabath Chandrakeerthi, mentions that all government officials should act as an example to the public for national energy security in the face of the existing global situation.

Under the category of transport and fuel management:

• Public transport or group transport methods (Carpooling) should be used instead of using individual vehicles when officials arrive for duty.

• Summoning officials from far away for meetings and discussions should be limited, and technical methods such as Zoom and Google Meet must be used for that.

• Methods such as email or WhatsApp should be used for information exchange, and physical transportation of documents should be minimised.

• It is pointed out that if one litre of fuel per day can be saved from the 92,000 vehicles owned by the state sector, about 110 million litres of fuel can be saved per year.

Under the category of electricity and energy conservation:

• It is mandatory to maintain the temperature of all air conditioners at 26°C or higher.

• Air conditioners should be deactivated for at least 01 or 02 hours per day during duty hours, and fans should be used whenever possible.

• Billboards and promotional screens should be deactivated after 09:00 PM, and television sets in institutions should be kept turned off during the daytime.

• Action should be taken to turn off street lights when unnecessary, and steps will be taken to turn off lights on roads other than high-security zones.

• The use of lifts should be minimized and the use of stairs should be promoted, as well as other points (attached below).