Thai PM presents prizes on energy

BANGKOK, November 22 (TNA) - Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has presented prizes to corporates with an outstanding works on energy conservation and the development of alternative energy, which help lower Thailand’s energy costs by over 1.6 billion baht yearly and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 181,000 tonnes annually. Chairing the "Thailand Energy Awards 2014" on Friday, General Prayut presented the prizes to the winners of the programme, in which as many as 290 works competed in five categories, including alternative energy, energy conservation, energy personnel, creativity of energy and for those supporting energy conservation and on alternative energy. The main objective of the programme is to encourage firms in both the public and private sectors and building owners to help reduce the country's imported energy bills, which now stands at 14 trillion baht yearly. Meanwhile, Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee stated that Thailand earlier received 13 prizes from the "ASEAN Energy Award 2014", making the Kingdom become a leader in energy conservation in the region for nine consecutive years. According to the energy minister, the prime minister has appointed Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula the chairman of a government committee on energy conservation, tasked with studying national measures on how to conserve energy over the next 5-10 years, namely the promotion of use of energy-saving LED bulbs and more consumption of alternative energy produced by local farm crops. (TNA)