From: EurActive on Environmental Network
News
After more than a
century lighting up the world, the switch will be flicked off across the EU for
the final time on incandescent bulbs on Saturday as the phased ban on their
sale is completed.From 1 September, an EU directive aimed at reducing the energy use of lighting means that retailers will no longer be allowed to sell 40W and 25W incandescent bulbs.
Similar bans came into
effect for 60W and 100W incandescent bulbs over the past three years. The
restrictions are predicted to save 39 terawatt-hours of electricity across the
EU annually by 2020.
Earlier this year, the UK government said the ban would bring an "average annual net benefit" of £108m to the UK between 2010 and 2020 in energy savings. But the phase-out of incandescents has been met with resistance by some users who say replacement technologies, such as CFLs, halogens and LEDs, do not perform as well.
Despite the substantial
long-term financial savings promised, the higher upfront price of replacement
bulbs has also been criticised by those opposing the ban.
"The phase-out has
been very smooth," said Peter Hunt, joint chief executive of the Lighting
Industry Association. "Concerns about poor performance of replacement
bulbs have been proved wrong.
The new LED replacements
for halogen downlighters that have come on to the market over the past year
work just as well, for example. Price is still a barrier, but that's coming
down almost daily as volume increases."
Hunt said
"scaremongering" about people stockpiling incandescents to beat the
ban had proved to be unfounded: "There is no evidence to support this.
Even so-called loopholes — the 'rough-service' incandescent bulbs that a few
retailers are reported to still be selling — are overplayed.
The law is clear: they
should not be sold for household use. It says so on the packaging. Any retailer
is risking a visit from government inspectors if they continue to sell
them."
Before the phase-out
began in 2009, an estimated 200m incandescent bulbs were sold each year in the
UK. But the ban has not achieved as much of a reduction in energy use as was
first hoped, said Hunt. "There is a trend now to use more and more
lighting in our homes.
The popularity of
halogen downlighters in homes has halted the decline in energy use. This will continue
until LED downlighters become the norm."
Read more at EurActiv.