SA to phase-out inefficient lighting by 2016

South Africa will become the first African nation to undertake such a phase out of inefficient lighting, arguably one of the quickest, easiest and most effective ways to save energy and combat climate change.

"If a global temperature rise is to be kept under 2 degrees C, we need to act on multiple fronts, including voluntary and legally binding actions," Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary-general and executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), told Allafrica.com. Electricity for lighting accounts for close to 20 percent of total global electricity production and six percent of worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. Steiner believes that the aim of achieving a global phase-out by 2016 "is not only possible but infinitely do-able."

South Africa will be able to electrify over four million homes with the electricity saved from phasing-out incandescent lamps it will also become the first African country to phase-out incandescent lamps following an integrated approach, including the development of collection and recycling systems. Beginning in January 2012, the country fully supports the 2016 global deadline for the phase-out of inefficient lamps and will complete the phase-out by 2016.

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