The Hindu Business Line : Replacing the bulb

In a country perennially short of electricity, any strategy that promises to relieve the problem is worth a serious look. As lighting accounts for about 20 per cent of the total electricity used, the Government plan to persuade households to replace their incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) is one such. The advantages for the CFL were always known: It consumes just a fourth of the electricity for delivering the same lumens of light as the ordinary bulb, and lasts much longer. If every one of the estimated 900 million bulbs in the country were to be replaced with CFLs, the current 10 per cent electricity shortage would be wiped out, not to speak of the admirable reduction in greenhouse gases, which are said to be driving climate change around the world.

That is dream stuff for the government's energy managers, but there is a catch. The price of a CFL is ten times as high as the bulb, and though commercial buildings have been early adapters, households are not exactly rushing to switch despite the known efficiency advantage.It is evident that the Government cannot leave it to the market mechanism. Banning the manufacture of the incandescent bulb is an extreme legislation; Australia has announced it would implement that in three years, the European Union is considering a similar idea, and environmental groups in India too have called for that. But any move that does not address the price differential will only cause considerable pain to consumers who still balk at putting down the extra cash for the CFL though there is evidence that they will get more than their money back over time through savings in electricity bills. Asking CFL manufacturers to match the price of the incandescent bulb and promising them compensation through funds from the international Clean Development Mechanism instituted under the Kyoto Protocol is what the Power Ministry proposes to do.

Consumers will not mind switching in that event provided everyone is educated fully on the merits, but one is not sure whether the deal can be sustained — how long can international bodies or governments subsidise the programme — or whether the financial formulation is attractive enough for manufacturers. Payments through this Kyoto mechanism usually happen after the energy-saving and reduction in emissions are confirmed; manufacturers will be greatly reluctant to sell at one-tenth of the price and wait long for compensation. In schemes being tried out in Bangalore and elsewhere consumers get to buy the CFLs at market-related prices but pay for it in instalments along with their monthly electricity bills. It will be interesting to see which strategy will eventually see the last of the incandescent bulbs out of the socket.

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