Efficiency in lighting

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Global Environment Facility through the United Nations Development Program, has replaced incandescent bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps at the fish section of the North Public Market. The decrease in power consumption due to this switch will not only save the city P388,006 a year, but it will also contribute to the energy conservation effort that should have a positive effect on the already strained power generation capacity of the power plants serving our area.

Compact fluorescent lamps consume 70-80 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs while providing the same amount of illumination. The drawback of CFL's is that they more expensive, but the savings made in terms of energy consumption and their longer usable life easily make up for that initial cost difference. During these difficult times, many Filipinos may be turned off by that initial cost difference and opt to use the cheaper incandescent bulbs, without realizing that using CFL's actually save money in the long run. The DOE estimates that if all the incandescent bulbs in all the three sections of the North Public market are replaced by CFL's, the electric consumption of the city will decrease by P1,085,713.50 a year.

The use of CFL's provides a quick and easy solution to two nagging problems: energy conservation and the high cost of electricity. The government's initiative in encouraging the use of CFL's is laudable, but the effort should go beyond simply replacing marketplace lights. Households should also be encouraged to convert their incandescent lighting to CFL. Information campaigns promoting the advantages of CFL may be able to convince some Filipino households to shift but if the national government can somehow reduce or eliminate the biggest hindrance to CFL conversion, which is the cost difference, by exempting CFL's from taxes or even subsidizing its use, the collective savings in convincing a large part of the population to use energy efficient lighting would certainly be significant. In fact, the impact of the savings incurred by a government-backed shift to CFL could be more significant than the temporary relief provided by the P500 one-time cash doleout that recently cost the Filipino taxpayer a whopping P2 billion.*