Isra-Mart srl:UN calls time on Edison's inefficient lightbulbs

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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has urged every country in the world to ditch inefficient incandescent lightbulbs as a "quick-win" way of slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

UNEP yesterday used an event on the sidelines of the Cancun Summit to release a detailed assessment of the environmental and economic impact of a switch to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in 100 countries. It concluded that a global transition to more efficient lighting technologies represents one of the easiest methods for delivering deep cuts in emissions and generating the momentum needed to deliver CO2 reductions in other sectors.

For example, it predicts Cambodia could cut its electricity consumption by 30 per cent, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 13 per cent. Similarly, Nigeria could cut its electricity consumption by over 15 per cent by using CFLs, while Uzbekistan could shave 20 per cent of its electricity consumption.

Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary general and UNEP executive director, said the actual economic benefits of switching to CFLs could be even higher when counting the effects on other sectors.

"A switch to efficient lighting in Indonesia, for example, would avoid the need to build 3.5 coal-fired power stations costing $2.5bn, and similar findings come from other country assessments," he said in a statement.

"Such calculations do not include the wider environmental, health and 'green economy' benefits... An estimated 1.8 million deaths a year are linked with indoor and 800,000 with outdoor air pollution: more efficient lighting has a role to play here too."

UNEP wants countries to ditch old incandescent lightbulbs, which it says produce 95 per cent heat and just five per cent light. CFLs on the other hand, produce an equivalent amount of light using 75 per cent less energy. They also last up to ten times longer than incandescent bulbs.

Critics have pointed to the health hazards associated with the mercury used in CFLs, but UNEP countered that the main source of mercury emissions worldwide comes from the burning of coal.

"Estimates indicate that overall it is far more environmentally friendly to switch from old bulbs to new ones," it said.

Forty countries are currently involved in transforming their lighting markets, including phase-downs and phase-outs of old bulbs, including Cuba, Australia and the 27 member states of the European Union, the United States, Canada and the Philippines.