Cancún climate change summit: UN urges phase-out of old-style light bulbs

Switch from incandescent bulbs would save billions and cut carbon emissions, says report The United Nations yesterday urged a global phase-out of old-style light bulbs and a switch to low-energy lighting that it said would save billions of dollars and combat climate change. About 40 countries already have schemes to switch from incandescent light bulbs, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report issued on the sidelines of UN climate talks in Cancún . Generation of electricity for lighting, often from burning fossil fuels, accounts for about 8% of world greenhouse gas emissions, it said. A shift to more efficient bulbs would cut electricity demand for lighting by 2%. A review of 100 nations showed huge potential for savings and carbon cuts from a shift to low-energy bulbs, according to a study backed by UNEP and lighting groups Osram and Philips. Indonesia, for instance, could save $1bn a year and cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 8m tonnes a year, the equivalent of taking 2m cars off the road, it said. It said Brazil could save $2bn a year, Mexico $900m, Ukraine $210m and South Africa $280m. All would also deliver big cuts in emissions. “The actual economic benefits could be even higher,” said Achim Steiner , head of UNEP, who added that a switch to efficient lighting in Indonesia would avoid the need to build several coal-fired power stations costing $2.5bn.” “Similar findings come from other country assessments,” he said. He also said the cost calculations did not include health benefits from switching from the use of fossil fuels, including use of kerosene lamps. About 1.8m deaths a year are linked with indoor air pollution. UNEP cautioned there were drawbacks because the most common low-energy compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFL, contain toxic mercury. It said countries needed to ensure safe collection and disposal of the light bulbs. “This is a central challenge, especially in developing countries,” it said. It said countries including EU members, the US, Canada, Australia, Cuba and the Philippines were working on phase-outs of old-style bulbs. Cancún climate change conference 2010 | COP16 Energy efficiency Climate change Mexico United Nations Global climate talks Environmental sustainability Energy guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds