12-04-08, 12:20 pm

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 4 (acn) Cuba has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by almost 3.5 million tons since the implementation of the Energy Revolution program, an idea of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

In statements to ACN news agency, Nelson Espinosa, director of the Ozone Technical Office, pointed out that part of the reduction is the direct consequence of burning less fossil oils to produce energy, a goal achieved due to the replacement of almost 15 million incandescent bulbs for energy-saving lamps, and of old electrical appliances for more efficient ones.

Espinosa, in his report to the 15th Engineering and Architecture Scientific Convention underway in Havana, added that another part of the reduction refers to the proper handling and storage of the ozone affecting chlorofluorocarbons extracted from the close to 3 million air conditioners and refrigerators replaced.

Cuba set up a network of Refrigerant Recovery Centers, to avoid the emission of these gases that affect the ozone layer which protects Earth from ultraviolet rays, said Espinosa, and added that the new appliances use Freon 22, a much less aggressive gas.

Cuba is a signatory of the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty related to protection of the ozone layer.