Bright ideas from ELC

The European Lamp Companies Federation (ELC) recently announced the first-ever joint industry commitment to support a government shift to more efficient lighting products for the home.

The commitment was announced by Philips, Osram, GE, SLI Sylvania and other European lamp manufacturers following a meeting between industry, national governments and the European Commission at the International Energy Agency, in Paris.

The lighting industry is developing a multi-pronged approach to achieve this government objective including public incentives to encourage consumers to purchase more efficient products and setting performance standards that will eliminate the least efficient products from the market.

In Europe approximately 2.1 billion energy inefficient lamps are sold every year mainly for homes, and other commercial uses. There are 3.6 billion such inefficient lamps in use in Europe. Assuming that an average of 50% of energy consumed could be saved by changing to energy efficient home lighting, Europe could save approximately 23 megatons of CO2, which is equal to the output of 27 power plants (at 2TWh) or electricity cost savings of €7bn.

ELC members say they are already proactively assisting the government to influence the shift towards more efficient lighting through the European framework directive EuP (ecodesign of energy using products) in the areas of street and office lighting. They now also urge the European Commission to adopt a similarly proactive approach to domestic lighting.

The group is now actively working on scenarios for the various governments so as to recommend realistic targets and timelines for an effective, successful shift that continues to provide consumers with the best lighting products for their needs while also serving to reduce energy consumption.