The European Commission has officially adopted two regulations to improve the energy efficiency of house lamps and office, street and industrial lighting products. The measures will gradually phase out all incandescent light bulbs and inefficient halogens by 2012 (EurActiv 09/12/08). According to the Commission, these measures adopted under the EU's Eco-design Directive will reduce Europeans' energy bills by €11 billion every year, as well as carbon dioxide emissions by 32 million tons.

Environmental NGOs hailed the ban on inefficient bulbs as a long-awaited first step towards improving energy efficiency in Europe. In the meantime, households will be able to choose between compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which use up to 75% less energy than traditional light bulbs, or efficient halogens, which yield energy savings of 25% to 50%.

Meanwhile, other industry sources have argued that intelligent lighting systems will ultimately provide greater energy savings. For instance, sensors can be installed on ceilings to activate lights when somebody walks into a room. The sensors then automatically switch them off after the person leaves the room. Such an intelligent lighting system is suitable for offices and factories, but is still too expensive currently for residential buildings.

However, ordinary residents can also attain significant savings in energy and cost simply by turning the lights off when they are not needed.

Adapted from http://www.euractiv.com published on 19 Mar 2009

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