Published:  00:00 Monday - March 28, 2011

UNWTO and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand have officially concluded a project to help hotels along the Thai Andaman coast significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs through energy-saving technologies.

Participating hotels have successfully reduced their carbon footprint and cut their energy costs by implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE/RE) technologies as part of the UNWTO/Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand joint Program for Energy Efficiency in Kho Khao and Kho Lak (PEEK).

Initial estimations indicate that the measures undertaken as a result of the project will bring in savings of around 385,000 kWh/year in energy consumption, as well as leading to a reduction in CO2 emissions of around 192 CO2 tons/year. This reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is estimated at between 10-25% per year, depending on the technology used and the individual hotel characteristics.

Over the past two years, the energy consumption of participating hotels was mapped through energy audits which also made individual energy-saving recommendations. Based on these recommendations, hotels installed EE/RE technologies such as heat pumps, solar hybrid power systems and efficient pool pumps, to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. These technologies were sourced locally, thus contributing to regional value added, and installed during off-season.

 The PEEK project also provided hotels and local communities with training courses and capacity building on EE/RE technologies, not only in Kho Khao and Khao Lak, but all along the Andaman Coast. It is expected that the project will serve as a model for similar efforts in other regions of Thailand and an Energy Efficiency Handbook for Thai Hotels has been produced.

Source: UNWTO