Efficient lighting initiatives

Well, it is not only CFLs but also other technologies. So, it is not only technologies, but also operation, maintenance and design that need improvement to achieve energy efficient lighting across all sectors.

The European lamp manufacturers have suggested a plan (see diagram below) for gradual improvements, and mention among the technologies high efficiency halogen, LED, high-efficiency incandescent and, of course, CFLs.

The European plan seems interesting, but also long-term and slow. One would imagine that some competition from abroad could speed up the pace? At least, as far as CFLs  are concerned, there is an initiative from the EC to skip the anti-dumping duties on CFL-import from China (which produces the major part of them, anyway). It is true that some Chinese CFLs have been very cheap, but they have also been too cheap for the Chinese since it was more because of low production quality than because of dumping. Such lamps would just not pass a quality test.

One sign that the Chinese take these things very seriously is that the World Bank sponsored ELI (Efficient Lighting Initiative) now has its head office in Beijing together with the Chinese Bureau of Standards and also has support from Germany to ensure global standards are set and met.

It is more discouraging that there is still no serious attempt to make lighting projects a real option to be financed with CDM-funding in spite of the fact that the World Bank has argued the case. There is an approved UN-FCCC methodology, but people with insight into the matter say that it is both impractical and expensive to use.

The intentions may be good, but the result will be that we are wasting most of the energy we produce, which is even more tragic when we have made such efforts to ensure it is renewable energy!