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Ministry plan phases out incandescent light bulbs

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is planning to phase out traditional incandescent light bulbs over the next five years to conserve energy and protect the environment.

Yeh Hui-chin (葉惠青), chief of the Bureau of Energy, said the ministry will encourage the government and the private sectors to replace incandescent light bulbs with other energy-saving and high-efficiency lighting devices.

Yeh said that the government has mapped out complementary measures for the new plan, and will work to accelerate the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs on both the production and consumption fronts.

The bureau will unveil new energy efficiency criteria for incandescent light bulbs at the end of this year, which Yeh said would take effect in 2012. Those bulbs failing to meet the criteria will no longer be imported or produced.

There are four domestic manufacturers of incandescent light bulbs, and Yeh said the bureau has discussed the plan with them.

"They are willing to work with the government's new plan and will switch to producing energy-saving light bulbs," Yeh said.

On the consumption front, the nation's 7,890 public offices will take the lead in replacing the incandescent light bulbs with other energy-saving light bulbs, while public markets will switch to more efficient bulbs by next year.

The bureau will also encourage hotels and hospitals that use a high volume of incandescent bulbs to change to more efficient devices, Yeh said.

It is estimated that after the phase-out, Taiwan will save around 800 million kilowatts per hour of electricity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 500,000 metric tonnes a year.

The reduction of emissions is equivalent to planting 27.84 million trees.

Statistics provided by the bureau showed that 22.18 million incandescent light bulbs are sold in Taiwan each year, and they consume an estimated 1.08 billion kilowatts per hour in electricity.

The average life span of the incandescent light bulb is between one-third to one-sixth that of energy-saving light bulbs, but it consumes five times the electricity of more efficient bulbs per unit of illumination.

The surfaces of incandescent light bulbs also get hotter when lit, increasing indoor temperatures and the use of air conditioning.
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