The First Country Banned Incandescent Lamp - Australia

According to a 2006 International Energy Agency report, lighting absorbs nearly one-fifth of global electricity generation, more than is produced by hydro or nuclear stations and about the same amount produced from natural gas. From Australia to Russia, energy-efficient light bulbs are gaining political traction around the globe. Governments are promoting energy-efficient light bulbs like LED in place of incandescent lamp across the world.

Australia is the first country to launch a plan for banning incandescent bulbs. Australians are among the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters per capita, and the country has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol. The new law reduced Australia’s current emissions by 800,000 tons by 2012 and simultaneously cut household lighting costs 66 percent.

More and more Lawmakers from other country hope to follow Australia’s lead. They are the United Kingdom, Canada, California, the New Jersey. Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty estimates that a ban of the energy-sucking incandescent would save enough energy to shut down one coal-fired power plant, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail.

The European Lamp Companies Federation, with includes General Electric, Siemens, and Royal Philips Electronics, said it plans to promote “public incentives to encourage consumers to purchase more efficient products and set performance standards that will eliminate the least efficient products from the market.”

European bulb makers announced that they would work together to promote energy-efficient lighting to European consumers, including light emitting diodes, or LEDs, which can save even more energy than CFLs.

Even Russia, a country with huge oil and gas reserves, is beginning to join the plan of banning incandescent lamp. As Moscow resident Nastya Meshkova observed, “It’s important to save energy, and if it’s going to save my energy bill of course I'll do it.” The IEA reports that a global switch to efficient lighting systems would cut the world’s electricity bill by nearly one-tenth.