eLightBulbs Lighting Blog > India Switching to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in India will soon be initiating a massive undertaking for the country's energy consumption.  They plan to bring in 400 million compact fluorescent light bulbs in an effort to replace as many incandescent light bulbs as possible.  If all 400 million CFLs each replaced an incandescent, the reduction in energy consumption would be astounding.

This reduction in energy consumption would prevent an estimated 40 million tons of carbon pollution from entering the atmosphere each year.  You may wonder why India is purchasing so many compact fluorescent light bulbs all at once; it's mostly because until now CFLs were very expensive in India.  Now there are government plans and deals which have provided subsidies and significantly reduced the price of compact fluorescent light bulbs, to the tune of about 75% less.

 

The environmental benefits are not alone; every ton of carbon saved equals one "carbon certificate" awarded by the UN.  These certificates are worth about 10-12 euros each on the international market as carbon credits.  40 million tons of carbon saved per year comes out to over 400 million euros in carbon credits!  The carbon credits can be sold to companies needing to keep their increasing emissions legal in the eyes of the international community.  

 

Investors in the project include power producers who are looking for greenhouse gas reduction certification required by the standards set forth by the European Union.  Power distribution companies like North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) are working on the project in India's capital, Delhi.

 

This is a great step in the direction of environmental improvement, but it must also be noted that 400 million compact fluorescent light bulbs equals many tons of mercury.  It's very important that CFLs be disposed of and/or recycled properly.  Never throw a CFL in the regular trash!