Goodbye Incandescents

By LAN XINZHEN

Goodbye Incandescents

By LAN XINZHEN

China looks to energy-efficient bulbs as it gears up to heighten energy efficiency

After 130 years of using incandescent lamps, China is determined to abandon the energy-guzzling bulbs in favor of more energy-effcient ones.

On November 1, the Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and fve other government departments jointly released a joint circular, vowing to gradually halt imports and sales of the traditional incandescent lamps.

Those lamps are widely used for both household and commercial lighting. Electricity is used to heat up the thin wire flament inside the bulb until it glows and produces light. Unfortunately, while incandescent bulbs are effective at illuminating even the darkest of spaces, they are not energy effcient. Much of the electricity is used to make heat, and light is only a byproduct.

In 1882, China’s frst incandescent lamp was used in Shanghai, providing a more reliable alternative to oil lamps and candles. In the past 130 years, China has become the world’s largest producer and consumer of incandescent bulbs. In 2010, the country’s output of such bulbs stood at 3.85 billion, with sales hitting 1.07 billion yuan ($168.47 million).

As China embarks on a greener path of development, it is aiming to phase out these less effcient bulbs.

“This move is part of the government’s vigorous efforts to push forward energy conservation and emission reduction,”said Xie Ji, Deputy Director of Resource Conservation and Environment Protection under the NDRC.

The effort to replace incandescent lamps with energy-efficient ones nationwide will help save 48 billion kwh of electricity and reduce 48 million tons of carbon dioxide emission annually, said Xie.

“This year marks the beginning of the 12th Five-year Plan (2011-15), which is focused on economic rebalancing. Meanwhile, the United Nations Climate Change Conference is about to convene in Durban, South Africa,”said Xie. “Against this background, China is taking swift action to propel green lighting and implementing effective measures in response to climate change.”

Xie said some manufacturers of incandescent lamps in the country have been transforming their businesses and reducing production. NDRC data showed that in 2010 there were 10 enterprises nationwide with annual output of more than 100 million incandescent lamps, accounting for at least 70 percent of the industry’s total output of such lamps.

China has been firmly committed to improving energy efficiency. In 1996, the Chinese Government launched a green lighting program, promoting wider use of energy-effcient lamps with heavy subsidies. Moreover, the country has joined hands with the United Nations Development Program and Global Environmental Facility to initiate a project aimed at lifting the quality and competitiveness of China’s energy-effcient lighting products.

The circular said those projects have signifcantly helped China’s lighting industry move up the value chain and improve product quality. In 1996, China’s output of energy-efficient lamps was barely 3 percent of that of incandescent bulbs, but the ratio jumped to 1:1 in 2010. Last year, the country’s output of energy-effcient lamps amounted to 4.26 billion, accounting for 80 percent of the world’s total. There were around 20 manufacturers with annual output surpassing 50 million, making up 82.2 percent of the industry’s overall output.

“Meanwhile, techniques of Chinese manufacturers have advanced to the worldleading level,” added Xie. “In addition, semiconductor lighting technologies are also maturing quickly.”

Hua Shuming, Director of the National Lighting Test Center, said the service life of a qualifed energy-effcient lamp is more than 6,000 hours, six times that of an incandescent bulb. A 13-watt energy-effcient lamp can produce illumination comparable to that of a 60-watt incandescent lamp, and it is able to reduce electricity consumption by 60-80 percent.

Energy-efficient lighting products are being recognized by global consumers. Data from the NDRC showed that Chinese energy-efficient lamps controlled 85 percent of global markets, up from only 20 percent in 1996.

LED in full swing

China is sparing no effort to propel wider use of energy-efficient lamps, especially light-emitting diode (LED) lighting products. LEDs present many advantages over incandescent lights including lower energy consumption, longer lifetimes, smaller size and faster switching.

LIU HAIFENG

LI ZHONG

“But LEDs are less competitive due to higher prices, so it will still take some time before they are fully accepted by consumers,”said Xie.

He added that the NDRC and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) are mulling subsidies to accelerate the promotion of LEDs.

China’s LED industry is already taking shape. In October 2009, the NDRC announced a series of measures to support the emerging sector, including government purchases and favorable import tariffs. Many local governments also followed suit, handing out generous policy incentives. The past two years have witnessed the start of nearly 100 large LED projects across the nation, with total investments exceeding 30 billion yuan ($4.72 billion).

Xie expected the output value of China’s LED industry to double in the next fve years. The sector is an important part of the energy conservation and environment protection industry, one of the seven major strategic emerging industries supported by the government.

Looming concerns

A recent research report from the Guoyuan Securities Co. Ltd. said China’s LED industry is getting into full swing, and LEDs are widely used in cell phones and liquid crystal television. But they are yet to be widely accepted as a general lighting source, it said.

“The biggest problem is high costs—its manufacturing cost is 50-60 times that of incandescent lamps,” said the report.

“Without government subsidies, it would be difficult to promote LEDs as general lighting, but elimination of incandescent lamps has provided a powerful catalyst for the promotion of LEDs,” it added.

In 2008, the NDRC and MOF launched a lighting program and distributed more than 400 million energy-effcient lamps to consumers. But the program encountered many problems, hindering further promotion of those lamps.

Energy-efficient lamps contain mercury, a neurotoxin that can pose a serious threat to environmental health. The amount is tiny—China, as well as the European Union, allows each fluorescent lamp to contain no more than 5 milligrams of mercury—but that is enough to cause acute environmental damage and has sparked worries over the disposal of those lamps.

Fluorescent lamps use electricity to stimulate mercury vapor. The mercury atoms produce short-wave ultraviolet light that then causes a phosphor to fluoresce, producing visible light.

Some people suggested manufacturers recycle the lamps, but that was less feasible given the high costs.

“Indeed, it is difficult to establish a nationwide recycling system in such a big country,” said Xie. “What we are doing is further improving technologies to decrease the mercury content of such lamps.”

Moreover, the high prices of energy-effcient lamps are also impeding the consumer acceptance.

In China, an LED lamp costs nearly 100 yuan ($15.75), compared with less than 10 yuan ($1.57) for an incandescent bulb. That is also why most Chinese LED manufacturers have focused on exports, instead of the home market.

Chinese LED firms still have a long way to go to sharpen their competitive edge. Chinese companies are good at assembly production, but one cause for concern is a lack of core chip technologies. U.S. and Japanese companies have dominated chip technologies, leaving Chinese firms in a weak position to compete.

Worse still, domestically made LED lamps suffer from the problem of a short battery life. As a result, it would be critical for domestic enterprises to strengthen efficiency and extend the service life of batteries so as to make their LED products more market competitive.

Phasing-Out Timetable

Nov. 2011-Sep. 2012 Transition period

Oct. 2012-Sep. 2014 Lamps above 100 watts to be banned

Oct. 2014-Sep. 2015 Lamps above 60 watts to be banned

Oct. 2015-Sep. 2016 Mid-term evaluation period

Oct. 2016- Lamps above 15 watts to be banned

(Source:Joint circular of NDRC and five other departments)