Participation of social workers in the islands battle to save energy has revealed many sources of waste Cuba could save more than 200,000 liters of diesel simply with an efficient use of trucks and tractors in the agricultural sector. That estimate was made by social workers, who add that this would mean a savings of more than $100,000 CUC. This evaluation appeared in several research presentations at the First Workshop of Social Workers Experiences in the Energy Revolution. Held in October in Havana, the young people drew up a balance sheet of the most significant achievements they have obtained as protagonists in several tasks of the ongoing Energy Revolution in the country. Yusmelys Pérez Abreu, Luisbel Medina Sandoval, Claribel Antunes and Yarely Ríos Morales were some of the professionals involved with entities of Agriculture and Sugar ministries (MINAZ and MINAGRI) for several months. Their task has been to diagnose the potential for saving energy and identify sources of fuel loss. They explained that they detected levels of consumption not associated with the main activity of the centers. They analyzed documentation referring to fuel assignments, distribution and control, and evaluated the entire automotive and agricultural sectors. During their investigation, the social workers discovered that the main problem was keeping vehicles on at all times. Likewise, their research revealed that many of the light vehicles did not have definite assignments and that their 20/99 Circulation Permits were violated, referring to the allocation of fuel for cars with administrative functions. The social workers pointed out that not all staff have planned transportation, which is evident in the inappropriate use of truck cargo and trailers. The immediate solution of technical problems is also not taken under consideration when equipment is out of order for short periods of time. Records for most distances driven, according to the route plan - they admitted - do not coincide with consumption. It was even detected that one car that had been reported as out of service, , had been assigned a quota of fuel. There have been cases - the young people explained - of lost route charts or others that did not have their registration numbers in their travel logs. Also, in some cases, these documents did not coincide with the last destination or had falsified names of persons authorizing their issuance. When fuel consumption checked, it was found that the majority of cars had records. Sources of waste Another achievement of the social workers was discovering sources of fuel waste. This diagnosis made in the province of Havana beginning June 28, 2006; it was aimed at studying high consumption entities of MINAZ and MINAGRI. To determine fuel consumption necessary for the entities in this sector, the social workers verified the number of vehicles of each entity and analyzed the documentation linked to fuel consumption during a three-month period. Checking the route charts, the young people found violations such as the falsification of signatures, alterations in recorded kilometers traveled and deficiencies in filling out charts. When they made a check of the fleet, they discovered that they were not registered in the company inventory. Others had disappeared, with the directors of the companies having no explanations. They also discovered a lack of discipline related to the use of private trucks or tractors by the entities without official contracts. They also detected problems in filling out model 50-73 in relation to fuel control from one month to the next, since some programmed activities were not performed. There are entities - they pointed out - that still do not have magnetic cards set up for vehicles and, at times, there was no budget assigned for this. They pointed out that the fleet of cars present a high cost of fuel because they have been in use for almost 25 years. Trips to unauthorized locations were also detected. Savings for growth. (Juventud Rebelde) For more than two months young Darién Hernández was a member of a group of 170 social workers during the sugar harvest in the Villa Clara region of. "Those day we made an effort to fulfill the guidelines of President Castro to do more with less without affecting the traditional activities of the 2006-2007 sugar harvest. We succeeded with MINAZ entities, achieving fuel savings that surpassed $100,000. These results in Villa Clara - explained the social worker - were the result of the Fuel Control and Savings Task Force during the harvest. This force - he explains - was dispatched to seven sugar mills that were in operation. At these sites, they rigorously analyzed the indexes of consumption of locomotives, evaluating the tonnage of the machines and verifying that specialized people were the only ones to receive and distribute the fuel. To succeed in their task - Darién Hernández explained - the brigade made daily follow-ups, carefully checking the working hours to the maximum, as well as industrial capacity and control, analyzing variations in the consumption indices. In the mornings or afternoons they discussed performance in sugar production and energy consumption, while relying on the workers to take initiatives that would guarantee higher production with a lesser amount of fuel. The study demonstrated that one of the main problems of consumption in this sector is also related to the technical conditions of the equipment, since they were in poor. Darién says that the locomotives are the best option for saving fuel when the established itinerary is fulfilled as well as in all sugar activities that require a collective awareness of the need to do more with less. He also pointed out that most trucks in this region were parked in the homes of the drivers and this consumption went beyond assignations for harvest activities. In addition, they found that dipsticks to measure existing fuel in the equipment tanks were non-existent. To achieve greater savings in this work - the social worker recommended - systematic technical check-ups be required in the different equipment (tractors, trucks, locomotives, combines) and frequent control and supervision of brigade activities. With the integration of social workers in the battle to save energy, many of the organizational deficiencies were found which prevented the optimal use of fuel. (Juventud Rebelde)
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