Russia has never made energy conservation much of a priority; but President Dmitry Medvedev would like that to change. He wants to see consumption drop by 40 percent in the next decade - but without the technological know-how, it could be difficult.

Sometimes, Dmitry Medvedev has to be brusque. Last Wednesday, the Russian president found it necessary to reprimand his audience in front of national television cameras for talking during his speech. "Whoever's chatting can go somewhere else. And that includes the bosses," he said. Medvedev is not accustomed to being ignored.

The problem may have been his choice of subject. The normally stoic Kremlin boss had been giving a speech on his new favorite subject: energy efficiency. It is not a topic that generally receives much attention in Russia.

Which is hardly a surprise. Medvedev's predecessor Vladimir Putin was quick to shut down the State Committee for the Protection of the Environment soon after entering office in 2000. At the time, the nation prided itself on its natural gas fields and smoking chimneys - symbols of the country's renewed status as a global power. Only sissies worried about climate change and carbon dioxide emissions.

These days however, Moscow's rich and powerful must acquaint themselves with a new set of priorities - those of the man who took office in May 2008. Medvedev is now hell-bent on modernizing the Russian economy, an undertaking which has implications for the oil and gas industry. The Russian president wants to make his country a superpower in energy efficiency.