South Africa To Phase Out Incandescent Bulbs

South Africa has plans to phase out certain types of incandescent bulbs and replace them with more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. Malebo Mahape, a spokeperson for the Minerals and Energy Department, said the project would first be looking to phase out more readily replaceable bulbs like the 60 watt and 100 watt incandescent bulbs currently widely used in South Africa. “It will not be possible to phase out all kinds of incandescent or halogen type bulbs until readily available alternative fluorescent ones are on the market,” Mahape said. She said the department of trade and industry had been approached to start drafting regulations to prohibit the import of certain classes of bulbs.

Investigations would also need to be completed on types of bulbs, possible impact on local manufacturers and economic impact, created by the phasing out of incandescent bulbs. A fluorescent bulb, while more expensive than regular bulbs, lasts up to eight times as long and uses 80% less energy, saving the consumer on lighting bills and the replacement cost of bulbs.

:: Story via Hugg via The Herald Online. See also ::What About Mercury From Compact Fluorescents?