While Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko reported this week that Ukraine hit a historic record in electricity consumption during the recent cold snap as people tried to heat their freezing homes, it is becoming painfully clear that a lot of the energy is simply wasted.Some experts claim that up to 50- percent of energy throughout the nation is lost through the leaky pipes that transport heat from heating plants to people's homes, poor insulation of homes and transit infrastructure, and even plain stupidity of people who leave office windows open for the night in current low temperatures.Sviatoslav Pavliuk, a 41-year-old Kyiv resident, proved just how bad the situation is by taking photos of the freezing Kyiv with his infrared camera. He posted many of his photos on the Internet, as a part of an awareness campaign conducted by PAUCI Foundaiton, a non-government organization he heads in Kyiv. The organization's mission is to teach municipal and central authorities, school directors, and citizens about energy efficiency and other issues.The waste is very clearly visible on his infrared photos, where it shows as red patches and lines.“I traveled to Obolon in the evening, and saw an arterial heat supply pipe, the temperature on its surface was between 30 and 85 degrees,” Pavliuk said on his Facebook page.He went on to find a manhole cover that was hot enough to fry an egg on. He made a show of it for the camera crews on Feb. 8.Photos by Sviatoslav Pavliuk
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