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RSS FeedDemand for Chinese Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs Grows Overseas, Remains Dim at Home
by Ling Li on March 22, 2007
A recent European Union (EU) decision to phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs in its 27 member nations by 2009 has brought cheer to Chinese lighting manufacturers, who produce nearly 80 percent of the world’s supply of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), a more energy-efficient alternative. China is also the largest exporter of CFLs worldwide, supplying some 70 percent of these bulbs used in Asia, Europe, and North and South America each year.
Although constrained by the extension of a five-year “anti-dumping” duty imposed by the EU in 2001, China’s CFL makers still see growing opportunities in this expanding market. Zhejiang Province, a major exporter of the energy-saving lamps to the EU, increased its export volume by some 87 percent in the first two months of 2007, compared to the same period last year, Economic Information Daily reported.
Yet domestic use of energy-efficient lighting in China is still in its infancy. While most consumers see the obvious advantage of CFLs—which use some two thirds less electricity as traditional incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer—they remain leery of the price (which is as much as 20 times greater) and of the possibility of buying an uncertified, substandard product. The lack of government regulations and incentives on the production and sale of the bulbs in China has opened the way for illegal practices in the domestic market.
The benefits of switching to more efficient lighting in the world’s most populous country are significant. If 12 million Chinese residents replaced a 60-watt incandescent bulb with an equivalent 10-watt CFL, this would save nearly as much electricity each year as is generated by the entire Three Gorge Dam hydropower project, according to Xinhua News. Unlike individual consumers, local governments have taken further steps to use the energy-saving lights in public buildings and spaces, which typically generate tremendous energy bills.
Although constrained by the extension of a five-year “anti-dumping” duty imposed by the EU in 2001, China’s CFL makers still see growing opportunities in this expanding market. Zhejiang Province, a major exporter of the energy-saving lamps to the EU, increased its export volume by some 87 percent in the first two months of 2007, compared to the same period last year, Economic Information Daily reported.
Yet domestic use of energy-efficient lighting in China is still in its infancy. While most consumers see the obvious advantage of CFLs—which use some two thirds less electricity as traditional incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer—they remain leery of the price (which is as much as 20 times greater) and of the possibility of buying an uncertified, substandard product. The lack of government regulations and incentives on the production and sale of the bulbs in China has opened the way for illegal practices in the domestic market.
The benefits of switching to more efficient lighting in the world’s most populous country are significant. If 12 million Chinese residents replaced a 60-watt incandescent bulb with an equivalent 10-watt CFL, this would save nearly as much electricity each year as is generated by the entire Three Gorge Dam hydropower project, according to Xinhua News. Unlike individual consumers, local governments have taken further steps to use the energy-saving lights in public buildings and spaces, which typically generate tremendous energy bills.
