By Liu Baijia (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-02 14:31

Anything multiplied by 1.3 billion is a huge number. Lighting is a perfect example.

If the Chinese replace 1.3 billion 60-watt incandescent bulbs for 10-watt energy-saving bulbs, the saved electricity will exceed the capacity of the Three Gorges dam, the world's largest hydropower plant.

While these figures are based on estimates, energy-efficient lighting has become a driving force of the industry.

Wang Jinsui, president of the China Illuminating Engineering Society (CIES), said an incandescent bulb phase-out plan deserves serious consideration and that the government is taking various measures to encourage the use of energy-efficient lighting devices.

"The restriction of incandescent bulbs has been put on the agenda and the large-scale use of compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) is also under discussion," said Wang, who has been pushing for energy savings in the lighting industry for the past decade.

It is estimated that there are still about 4 billion incandescent bulbs in China, most of them in smaller cities and rural areas.

Light bulbs have been used since 1870s, but they are believed to be less efficient because 95 percent of energy is wasted in the form of heat.

Australia announced earlier this year to halt the use of incandescent bulbs before 2010. Canada, New Zealand, Chile, and four states in the US have also made similar moves.

In March, EU governments called on the European Commission to impose energy efficiency requirements on commercial and private uses, but the latter has not yet made a decision.

The CIES' Wang said China has been promoting a green lighting initiative since 1996 and saved 5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity from 1996 to 2005 while reducing CO2 emissions by 14.52 million tons.

The Chinese government has stipulated that only green light products be used in central government agencies.

The trend of energy-saving lighting devices is also taken as a huge opportunity for the lighting industry.

"New lighting technology offers a triple win - consumers and end users, the environment and business - all will gain and benefit," Gerard Kleisterlee, chairman and CEO of Royal Philips Electronics, said during his visit to Chongqing in June.

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