-We should no longer burn our energy reserves, Medvedev stressed in the State Council meeting in Arkhangelsk this week. He admitted that Russia is lagging far behind other states in efficient use of energy. He said the situation in the housing sector is the worst and that Russian buildings are a “black hole” where “huge energy resources disappear without a trace”, a press release from the presidential website reads. In the same meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said Russia in 2006 spent 3,5 times more energy than the international average. Medvedev also called for the enhanced generation of alternative energy, saying that alternative energy sooner or later will replace hydrocarbons. -Other countries spend billions of dollars in the development of an efficient hydrogen fuel, only in order to avoid buying our oil and gas, Medvedev said, adding that “we have to respond to this challenge”. According to a presidential decree from last year, Russia will by year 2020 decrease the national GDP’s energy consumption by 40 percent. The country also recently adopted a law on energy saving, which is to help the country reach that goal.
