Date published: 2006/06/29
The BBC says:
A global switch to efficient lighting systems would trim the world's electricity bill by nearly one-tenth.
That is the conclusion of a study from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which it says is the first global survey of lighting uses and costs.
The carbon dioxide emissions saved by such a switch would, it concludes, dwarf cuts so far achieved by adopting wind and solar power.
Better building regulations would boost uptake of efficient lighting, it says.
"Lighting is a major source of electricity consumption," said Paul Waide, a senior policy analyst with the IEA and one of the report's authors.
"19% of global electricity generation is taken for lighting - that's more than is produced by hydro or nuclear stations, and about the same that's produced from natural gas," he told the BBC News website.
The carbon dioxide produced by generating all of this electricity amounts to 70% of global emissions from passenger vehicles, and is three times more than emissions from aviation, the IEA says.
Some interesting statistics. Of course no mention is made of the cost of the proposed switch to more efficient lighting systems. This cost represents an upfront (direct and indirect) consumption of energy, so it should not be ignored. With economies of scale it might be reduced to an insignificant level. In any case it ought to be offset in the long run by the reduced operational consumption of energy. And as well as more efficient lights we ought to have more intelligent light usage, in particular not leaving the lights on in office buildings over night (this can be accomplished either via control systems or via human intervention, but the latter can be tricky because it's not always obvious if you are the last person at work). (Of course city skylines at night look good exactly because so many lights are left on.)
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