ENERGY
YUTHANA PRAIWAN
The Energy Ministry yesterday ditched its oil price subsidy policy in a move to make all sectors find their own way to save energy.
''Now there is no more fuel price intervention for any sector. The public should pay at actual cost so they will be alert to cutting their fuel use by themselves,'' said Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop.
''Even though fuel prices have risen to nearly 40 baht a litre as global crude oil prices have soared above US$120 a barrel, what we [the government] can only do is try to encourage people to save energy as much as possible.''
Concerning PTT and Bangchak which have delayed their pump price hikes, she said it was their executives' decision and the government was not involved.
The government recently implemented a mandatory new policy for outdoor billboards to have their lights turned on only from 7 to 10pm to save on power consumption of over 1,000 watts an hour.
Lt-Gen Poonpirom said that apart from this, the ministry will be more aggressive in coming up with new campaigns to encourage consumers to be more concerned about energy consumption.
Ongoing energy efficiency improvement campaigns include the demand side management programme, the promotion of energy-saving electrical appliances and equipment, and soft loans for factories and large commercial buildings' power equipment renovation.
''The government will keep looking for new energy-saving campaigns because they will help consumers to save energy by themselves without price distortions,'' said Lt-Gen Poonpirom.
She said PTT executives had committed to boosting the number of PTT's compressed natural gas (CNG) service stations to meet demand of motorists by this July. CNG is known in Thailand as natural gas for vehicles (NGV).
PTT expects at the end of this year the number of NGV vehicles to rise to 88,265 from the current 67,445, while the number of gas service stations will rise to 320 from 181.
The value of NGV sold that is used as a replacement for fuel oil will rise to 15.06 billion baht from the current 4.4 billion baht.
The ministry also plans to encourage the farm and fishery sectors in rural areas to turn to mini biofuels by assisting them with the required technology.
Sountaree Rattapasakorn, a bio-diesel plant engineer at Bangkok University, said the university has succeeded in developing mini bio-diesel which is cracked from used cooking oil with technology provided by the National Science and Technology Development Agency.
The facility started operations in January with bio-diesel output of 1,800 litres a month, a volume which can replace more than 50% of the diesel used by shuttle buses.
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