If Vietnam fully taps its potential for green energy it will have a positive impact on both the national economy and the environment.Traditional energy resources are becoming exhausted, leading to higher prices and unstable supplies.According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnam's energy consumption is growing at twice the rate as its GDP, while in developed countries the rate generally stands at single digits.Vietnam currently consumes five times more energy than it did in the 1999-2004 period at from 4.21 million- 19.55 million tonnes of oil, an average annual rise of 11.7 percent.It is predicted that Vietnam will become an energy importing country by 2015.A recent survey conducted by the Vietnam Institute of Economics on the exploitation and use of green energy in Vietnam shows that the country has abundant renewable natural resources such as solar, wind and hydroelectric energy that can replace fossil fuels and reduce impacts on the environment.Ly Ngoc Thang, Deputy Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy and Clean Development Mechanisms under the Energy Institute, says Vietnam has around 2,000-2,500 hours of sun each year, which can produce energy equivalent to that derived from 43.9 million tonnes of oil.The Centre's Director, Nguyen Duc Cuong, claims that Vietnam can annually generate 800-1,400 kwh/m2 of wind power each year on the mainland, 500-1000 kwh/m2 in the coastal, central highland and southern regions, and nearly 500 kwh/m2 in other regions.Around 320 MW of energy can be generated from waste and 100-200 MW from harnessing the tides while geothermal energy can reach more than 340 MW.Sixty percent of the country's energy can come from wood by-products and 4 percent from agricultural by-products.Despite climatic limitations for wind and solar energy, the Red River Delta has relatively abundant resources of geothermal energy.The temperature around four kilometers under ground in the southeastern and northwestern regions is 160 degrees Celsius, which represents a geothermal energy capacity to generate electricity equal to 1.16 percent of the country's total electricity volume produced in 2006. Scientists say using geothermal heat pumps for air-conditioning in Hanoi will save VND800 billion per year and reduce CO2 emissions by 252,000 tonnes.Cuong argues that no nation can successfully develop renewable energy without government support. The Vietnamese Government needs to provide incentives and adopt new policies and mechanisms to develop renewable energy.Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) must also be willing to agree to buy electricity generated from renewable sources, Cuong says.He emphasized the need to draw up detailed plans for wind power projects in the country. Dr Le Anh Vu, Deputy Head of the Institute of Sustainable Development in the northern region, points out the impacts of small hydroelectric projects, such as reducing agricultural production and profitable resources for aquaculture, adversely affecting biodiversity and increasing pressure on natural resources.To exploit the advantages of small projects and limit their negative impacts, the Government should create a legal foundation for developing mini hydroelectric projects across the country.It is also imperative to ensure the projects' interests fairly and reasonably, and supervise investors’ environmental commitments, Vu saysDr. Nguyen Van Huan from the Vietnam Institute of Economics proposes devising specific action plans for bio-energy development and pouring investment into bio-energy programmes, which should be on the list of priority projects under the national climate change programme.It is also essential to study plants that can be cultivated for biodiesel and bio-petrol, and encourage livestock breeders to use biogas in the new rural development programmes, Huan notes.

(VOV)