Lights out for ordinary light bulbs in the UAE

Incandescent light bulbs will be a thing of the past in a year’s time in the UAE. The Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (Esma) on Monday announced the introduction of an ‘indoor lighting standard’ for the UAE, which means that ordinary bulbs will be replaced with energy efficient ones.

“The new UAE lighting standard will reduce the country’s energy consumption by 340 to 500 megawatts (MW) per year, which is equivalent to not using an average gas power station for six months,” said Dr Rashid bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, and Chairman of the initiative’s steering committee.

Esma undertook the initiative with various partners from the UAE’s Ecological Footprint initiative.

The UAE has one of the highest ecological footprints per person, and results in one of the largest wastage of resources. If the entire world were to lead the lifestyle followed here, the global population would need up to five planets to sustain it. The large majority of the country’s ecological footprint — 71 per cent — comes from carbon dioxide (burning fossil fuels and energy consumption), which includes electricity.

“The lighting standard brings environmental benefits by preventing 940,000 tonnes of carbon emissions entering the atmosphere each year. This is the equivalent of removing 165,000 cars off the road annually,” said Ida Tillisch, director-general of Worldwide Fund for Nation — Emirates Wildlife Society.

In addition to environmental benefits, there are financial savings, estimated at Dh668 million annually. Of this amount, Dh452 million would come from households’ reduced electricity bills, especially in the emirates with higher tariff rates. For example, an average villa in Dubai could save up to Dh2,315 per year just by changing its bulbs to energy efficient ones. About Dh216 million could be saved by the UAE Government from reduced subsidies.

According to Mohammed Saleh Badri, director-general of Esma, the standard will be implemented by banning the import of ordinary incandescent lights to the UAE in six months from now. “As of July 1, there will be no more imports of incandescent light bulbs and since they don’t last very long, we expect that in 2015, the UAE will be free of these bulbs,” he said.

Businesses will also be required to make the switch. The only incandescent lights that would be allowed are “technical” ones such as refrigerator lights.

silvia@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE