Many Receive Medals, Citations at Energy Saving Rally
- Annual event intended to keep standby power rate below 1 watt

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy(MOCIE) and the Korea Energy Management Corp. held the 26th Energy Saving Promotion Rally Nov. 12 at the auditorium of the Korea Electric Power Corp.(KEPCO) in a bid to publicize the need for saving energy during the winter season when energy consumption goes up despite high oil prices. MOCIE Minister Lee Hee-beom attended the event in which some 1,600 people attended including those with contribution to energy saving and leaders in the energy field.
The event displayed example of exemplary cases of energy saving efforts and presented awards to those who made contribution to energy saving efforts nationwide. Minister Lee said saving energy and its effective use are tasks that cannot be put off. In order to prevent an abuse of energy reserves, the government will take measures so that electric equipment would lower its energy requirement by 1 watt. The measures would include the government purchase of these energy saving electric equipment and promote its distribution.
Advanced countries including the United States have been waging campaigns to keep the standby electricity below 1 watt. President Bush proclaimed an order to keep the standby electricity below 1 watt all across the United States. President Kim Wan-jae of Kumho Petrochemical Co. won the Gold Tower Industrial Medal for saving 13.2 billion won worth of energy expenses for his company through renovated manufacturing process and effective operation. President Park Jang-seok of SK Corp. clinched the Silver Tower Industrial Medal for his role in saving 9.3 billion won worth of energy expenses. About 41 groups and individuals won silver, bronze, stone, and iron tower industrial medals and presidential and prime minister's citations. Another group of 140 individuals working for KEPCO and Samsung Electronics Co., among others, won citations from the MOCIE Minister.
At the rally, the exemplary case of energy saving by Kumho Petrochemical President Kim was presented, along with the chorus by Maebong Primary School chorus with the primary school winning the best award in the chorus competition at the energy saving rally.
The energy saving promotion rally is held annually in November in a bid to raise public awareness for the need for saving energy and present awards to exemplary persons in the area. The rally was held for the first time in 1975 and this year marks its 26th rally.
The rally went underway with the performance by the National Police Band, followed by a report by the President of the Korea Energy Management Corp. The president of Kumho Petrochemical Co. presented his case of energy saving efforts, followed by the chorus by the Maebong Primary School chorus. It was followed by the presentation of medals, awards and citations for those who contributed a lot to the energy saving drive. Prime Minister Lee ended the rally with a speech.
Per household power consumption came to 306 kWh with 1.7 percent comprising a standby power wasting some 500 billion won in energy expenses. They estimate some 300 million electric equipment are in use across the country with per equipment standby electricity amounting to 3.66 W on average.
The standby power rate for TV set is 4.33 W, Video 5.45 W, Audio 9.12 W, DVD Player 12.20 W, Set top box 7.85 W, computer 3.26 W and Printer 3.07 W. On May 18, this year, the stand by power 1 W program was reported to the cabinet meeting. On May 20, the promotion committee for standby power 1 W program was formed with 22 organizations including the government, consumer groups, and electric equipment makers participating.
On July 29, an international seminar on the program took place with Mr. Allen Meyer of the International Energy Agency as a main speaker. He initiated the 1W Plan. He spoke on "Reducing Standby Power to 1 Watt."
On Aug. 25, the National Energy Saving Promotion Committee decided that the government should place priority to electric equipment with standby power rate below 1 Watt. nw