AZERBAIJAN: ENERGY-EFFICIENT, EARTHQUAKE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000992 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT PLEASE PASS TO DOE KAY THOMPSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2017 TAGS: AJ ECON EPET PGOV PREL SENV SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: ENERGY-EFFICIENT, EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT, BUILDING MATERIALS WORKSHOP HELD JULY 16-17, 2007 Classified By: CDA DON LU FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (U) At the inaugural US-Azerbaijan Earthquake-Resistant, Energy-Efficient Building Materials Workshop on July 16-17, experts from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) highlighted growing U.S.-GOAJ cooperation in non-oil related sectors. Workshop discussions included demand for housing and commercial buildings to include Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees, State-of-the Art Building Systems, Advanced Building Products, Construction Standards and Certifications, Advanced Technologies, Financing Models, Industrial Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. It was attended by roughly 60 Azerbaijani government representatives and experts, including University professors and administrators. On the US side, there were 20 U.S. sponsored DOE contractors and experts. ¶2. (U) The goals of the workshop were to put Azerbaijani experts in renewable energy, energy-efficiency and seismic issues in direct contact with their US counterparts and then to devise a road-map which would detail the future cooperation between the DOE and the Government of Azerbaijan (GOAJ). GOAJ attendees were greatly interested in the topic of structural insulated panels (SIP) which could be used to accommodate IDPs and refugees, given by Winter Panel Corp President Mr. David Gauthier. Separate discussions were arranged to continue to discuss the idea of SIPs following the official workshop and the topic was also included in the road-map. -------------- ROAD-MAP-FOLLOW-ON ACTION ITEMS -------------- ¶3. (U) During the workshop's last session, the roadmap for future cooperation was agreed upon by the participants. The road-map focused on the following areas: (1) establishing a system for developing building standards and codes appropriate for Azerbaijan, (2) creating education and training opportunities to contribute to governmental policy in this sector, (3) information exchange on building technologies for IDPs and (4) cooperation on seismic mapping in the Absheron Peninsula, including Baku. Also included was an exchange of expertise regarding DOE's Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) which offer a model for improving industrial efficiency. ¶4. DOE and the MES workshop representatives agreed that the next step would be for an Azerbaijan team of experts to visit the U.S. to study standards/code making procedures. Following the workshop, in a separate meeting, DOE official Kay Thompson and Poloff presented the road-map to the Deputy Minister for Emergency Situations, Orujali Hajiyev who stated that he would review the document and provide the Embassy with his thoughts. -------------- -------------- OIL SPILL RESPONSE CLEAN-UP, NO ASSISTANCE NEEDED; INTEREST IN TRAINING REGARDING ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Thompson also offered to apply for a grant on behalf of the GOAJ to fund training for the GOAJ officials in forming their own laws and regulations governing oil spill response clean-up, but Hajiyev indicated that the GOAJ was not interested in this training. Hajiyev said the GOAJ was interested in site remediation and restoration of lands contaminated from its oil pipelines. He said 30,000 hectars were polluted due to these pipelines and this was taking into account only onshore. Hajiyev cited the presidential decree mandating Absheron Peninsula clean-up, for which the MED, MES, SOCAR, were responsible. Hajiyev said he would welcome a deeper knowledge of the technical expertise and the depth to which oil clean-up could occur. Embassy has subsequently followed up and passed the contact information for U.S. companies which specialize in oil spill environmental clean-up technologies, and will continue to work with the relevant GOAJ interlocutors in this regard. LU