Emissions to be decreased in Telavi
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Monday, April 20
Within the framework Sustainable Energy Day two projects were presented in Telavi. New eco- friendly heating and lightning systems were installed in the First Public School of Telavi; in addition, Kavkasioni Street was lighted by the environmentally-friendly LAD lamps. The expenses for both projects were covered by British Petroleum and its partner companies.
“Earth is our home, the home which is shared by all of us. That is why we must do our best to take care of it. Also, besides the environmental goods, which are caused by decrease of emissions, the project also has the potential to save money. I hope that soon we will have the opportunity to cover more cities with similar projects,” said Head of British Petroleum Georgia Chris Schlueter.
The Mayor of Telavi, Platon Klamakhelidze, said that the Mayor’s Office of Telavi will continue to work in this field.
“With this project, we want to help the school to save some money for educational purposes by not having to pay huge communal bills. Besides the saving, we still have a goal to achieve. Since we are the part of The Covenant of Mayors we have to fulfill all our obligations until 2020,” stated Klamakhelidze.
The Covenant of Mayors is a mainstream European movement, started in 2008, involving local and regional authorities and committed to increasing energy efficiency and use of renewable energy source in areas under their jurisdiction. With their commitment, Covenant signatories aim to meet and exceed the European Union 20% CO2 reduction target by 2020.
“We needed 2500 GEL per month for communal payments, but since the infrastructure was changed, we paid only 1500 GEL. However, to me the most important thing is that this system creates a better environment,” stated the director of the school Maia Otarashvili.
Director of Energy Efficiency Centre (EEC) Giorgi Abulashvili said that such projects will be launched in 11 cities in Georgia.
“Since this is a very important and useful project, we want to involve as many cities in it as possible,” stated Abulashvili.
