Government officials in Guangdong will literally find themselves hot under the collar Tuesday as energy consumption, including the use of air conditioners, is reduced on so-called "energy-shortfall day".

Officials at all levels will have to take public transport to work, minimize power consumption by shutting off some elevators, air conditioning and lighting, and reduce paper consumption for the whole day.

"The campaign aims to let government officials feel for themselves how inconvenient life and work will be when energy is in short supply," said Yang Jianchu, director of the provincial economy and trade commission of Guangdong, which launched the campaign.

"This way they will sharpen their awareness of energy use and set an example for others in regards to saving energy."

As a next step, government vehicles, unless for official purposes, will be taken off the road one day per week according to the last digit of their registration numbers.

Many officials in the provincial capital of Guangzhou support the campaign.

Zhou Weixiong, an official with the provincial cultural department, said his department has planned for the campaign and each official will take the bus or metro, ride a bike or walk to work.

"We will use secondhand envelopes instead of new ones for the internal delivery of documents tomorrow," he said.

"As a matter of fact, we have developed a habit of saving stationery and cutting power consumption at our office," Liang Tianfen, an official with the provincial construction department, said Monday.

"I don't think it will be particularly inconvenient for us tomorrow, and it is not very hot these days with the rainy weather," she said.

"In my eyes, it's always meaningful to make people conscious of the urgency and importance of saving energy by any means," she said.

However, many citizens in Guangzhou are suspicious of the effect of the campaign.

"I'm afraid the campaign is more of a show than anything else," said Lin Yaxian, a marketing manager with a local furniture firm.

"When all the government officials head to public transport at rush hour with media present, the buses and metro will be too crowded for other office workers," she said.

"I think it is more important not to use so much air conditioning in government buildings and prevent government vehicles from being abused," she remarked.

Government buildings and other public facilities in the province consumed 11.6 billion kilowatt hours of power in 2008, a year-on-year growth of 22 percent from 2005, accounting for 3.3 percent of total power consumption in the province.

(China Daily June 16, 2009)