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President Chain launches `lights out' at 7-Elevens

"We hope to motivate more people to join the ranks of those who love the Earth."

Hsu Chung-jen, President Chain president

More than 1,600 7-Eleven outlets will turn off outdoor lights at night starting today, followed by other outlets nationwide later this month, to help combat global warming, President Chain Store Corp (統一超商) announced yesterday.

Trumpeted as the nation's first large-scale corporate power-saving initiative, the "lights out" campaign will continue throughout the summer, when electricity consumption is high, the operator of the world's third-largest 7-Eleven franchise said.

"By spearheading the campaign to conserve energy, we hope to motivate more people to join the ranks of those who love the Earth," said company president Hsu Chung-jen (徐重仁), who appeared at the press conference yesterday wearing only a shirt and pants.

Starting at 1am today, 7-Eleven outlets in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Tainan will turn off the lights of their horizontal signboards at night. The campaign will extend to its other outlets by the end of the month.

In those cases where the lighting is necessary for safety concerns, such as by bus stops, outlets will not participate in the campaign. The company said more than 4,000 stores nationwide would participate in the initiative.

The company expects to save 770,000 kilowatt-hours in electricity per month and approximately NT$2.31 million (US$70,570) on monthly energy bills.

The efforts could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 408.1 tonnes of per month, which is equal to the amount of pollution produced by 27,206 vehicles in one day.

Terming it a "bold" approach, Hsu said the firm would survey customers to determine whether to continue with the campaign in the winter as some executives worry it could adversely affect sales or raise safety concerns.

This is not the first time the nation's largest convenience store chain operator has sought to conserve energy.

In May last year, President Chain signed an agreement with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院) to transfer power-saving technology over a course of three years.

The energy-saving devices offered to President Chain include velocity and inverter controllers for open refrigerated display shelves, inverter controllers for air conditioners, high-efficiency lighting and energy-saving space designs.

The total package was expected to save the chain 150 million kilowatt-hours in electricity and NT$300 million in energy bills a year, the institute said at the time.
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