A light diet for a giant appetite: An assessment of China’s proposed fluorescent lamp standard

Jiang Lin, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, USA

Keywords

China, lamp standards, lamp production, fluorescent lamp, compact fluorescent lamp, CFL, minimum efficiency standard, policy intervention, lighting performance

Abstract

Lighting has been one of the fastest growing electric end-uses in China over the last twenty years, with an average annual growth rate of 14 %. Fluorescent lighting provides a significant portion of China’s lighting need. In 1998, China produced 680 million fluorescent lamps, of which 420 million were linear fluorescent lamps of various diameters (T8 to T12). There are substantial variations both in energy efficiency and lighting performance among locally produced fluorescent lamps. Such variations present a perfect opportunity for policy intervention through efficiency standards to promote the adoption of more efficient fluorescent lamps in China. This paper analyzes China’s proposed minimum efficiency standard for fluorescent lamps and presents an assessment of its likely impacts on China’s lighting energy consumption and GHG emissions.