Cutting back on Christmas lights is one of the suggestions that the Valencian Government is proposing to reduce energy consumption this winter.
Europe is facing its worst energy crisis in decades and is taking extraordinary steps to secure supplies for the winter amid fears of fuel shortages and near-record electricity and natural gas prices.
The Government asked all the autonomous communities “to establish an education and social awareness program for energy saving through mass dissemination mechanisms” and come up with suggestions of how we can all save energy.
The Generalitat Valenciana has sent its preliminary contributions to the contingency plan to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, in which they propose 8 different measures that central Government will look at, along with suggestions from other autonomous communities, before coming up with an action plan for winter.
It is about “providing all citizens with good practices to save energy in their day-to-day activities”. To do this, “we propose television campaigns, advertisements or sketches of less than a minute with simple advice on saving at home, at the workplace or on the move”.
From the Valencian proposals, two points stand out, ” that a goal of at least 20% savings be set in electricity consumption for Christmas lights compared to consumption in 2021″.
The municipalities must apply the reduction “under their best judgment and strategy, being able to choose at their own discretion to modify schedules, quantities, their efficiency, etc… in order to meet the objective.”
On the other hand, the document explains that “there are still many supermarkets and stores in our country that have fresh products in open refrigerated cabinets and shelves, without doors.”
“This supposes a massive waste of energy, especially in winter, when the interior temperature of the premises is heated, producing an increase in both the need for cold in the showcase and in the heating of the premises,” the Generalitat reasons.
For this reason, “in coherence with the obligation to close the doors of air-conditioned premises, a similar plan should be established to proceed with this transformation as quickly as possible”.
In this sense, they propose to establish ” an urgent aid line for this measure, in which an equally rapid action by the beneficiary should be taken into account for the granting”.
