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Cubans get energy-efficient refrigerators(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Havana, Dec 3 (EFE).- The Cuban government has replaced 95 percent of the refrigerators in homes on the island with "more efficient" models as part of its plan to reduce electricity consumption, the state-run press reported Wednesday. Juventud Rebelde newspaper cited the deputy minister for Basic Industry, Juan Manuel Presa, as saying that the country also replaced virtually all the water pumps and lightbulbs with others that use less power, and he added that in some municipalities electricity use had been reduced by 10 percent. The strategy of changing old U.S.- or Russian-made refrigerators began to be implemented in 2007, when they began to be phased out in favor of modern Chinese models that the government distributed to the public at subsidized prices. Then-President Fidel Castro at the time called the old devices "energy devourers" and he planned to eliminate them as one of the main features of his "energy revolution" policy. Cuba had launched that policy in 2005 to try and renew its sources of energy production, revamp the power distribution system and reduce electricity consumption on the communist-ruled island. In addition to the replacement of obsolete and inefficient appliances, the government has implemented other power-saving measures including higher electricity prices, and in 2005 it launched a campaign against the widespread pilfering of gasoline at service stations. The push for energy efficiency has continued under Gen. Raul Castro, who replaced ailing older brother Fidel early this year. Curently, the refrigerator-exchange strategy is being repeated for home air conditioners. EFE arj/bp Copyright ? 2008 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc. |