EU to phase out energy-guzzling light bulbs

clipped from www.wbcsd.org EurActiv.com, 19 March 2009 - The European Commission yesterday (18 March) officially adopted two regulations to improve the energy efficiency of house lamps and office, street and industrial lighting products. Meanwhile, industry sources claimed that intelligent lighting systems will ultimately provide greater energy savings. The measures will gradually phase out all incandescent light bulbs and inefficient halogens by 2012. In the meantime, households will be able to choose between compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), which use up to 75% less energy than traditional light bulbs, or efficient halogens, which yield energy savings of between 25% and 50%. According to the Commission, the two measures adopted under the EU's Eco-design Directive will reduce Europeans' energy bills by €11 billion every year, by saving roughly the electricity consumption of Belgium by 2020. This will reduce CO2 emissions by 32 million tons, the EU executive says.