Press release - July 30, 2007
MYSORE, India — Greenpeace will today submit a proposal for energy efficient and climate friendly lighting to the Mysore palace. To create the only one of its kind of illumination in the world, the Mysore palace uses approximately 96,000 ordinary light bulbs, which are energy inefficient. To demonstrate this energy wastage at one of the iconic monuments of India, Greenpeace released a set of thermograph images at the press conference. Taken with an infrared camera, the images highlight how light bulbs dissipate most of the energy as heat, in comparison to efficient Compact Fluroscent Lamps. Greenpeace is campaigning for a progressive legislation to phase out inefficient lighting in India as the first step towards energy efficiency.
As a part of its campaign to phase out inefficient lighting in India to fight climate change, Greenpeace demonstrates in front of the Mysore Palace on Sunday, July 29th. The Mysore palace, which uses over 96,000 incandescent light bulbs for its illumination, can save Rs 41 Lakhs in electricity bills and a significant amount of electricity and carbon dioxide by switching to compact fluroscent lamps.
Twenty percent of India's total electricity consumption is for
lighting purposes. The total electricity consumed by lighting is
18000 MW. Greenpeace estimates that if the all the incandescent
bulbs are replaced by efficient compact Fluroscent Lamps (CFLS)
atleast 12000 MW of electricity can be saved. The Mysore Palace
currently consumes close to 120,000 kWh of electricity per annum.
According to Greenpeace if the palace shifts to CFLs, 80,000 kWh of
electricity will be saved. This would enable the palace to save
close to Rs. 41.0 Lakhs in annual electricity bills. Further, this
step will reduce annual carbon dioxide emission by 46,632 Kgs.
Computed over the average life of a CFL (five years), this would
reduce carbon dioxide emission by a whopping 233 tonnes.
Srinivas Krishnaswamy, Climate and Energy Expert, Greenpeace
said "The latest IPCC report tells us that we have eight years to
act to mitigate climate change, by far the biggest threat to the
environment and the planet. Definite steps, even though small,
towards reducing Co2 emissions matter. By switching to energy
efficient lighting which retains the original look, the Mysore
Palace can lead by example other heritage buildings and old
establishments on a path of energy efficiency in these times
affected by climate change"
"If Karnataka invests in energy efficient lighting alone, with
large electricity consumers like the Mysore Palace showing the way,
dirty coal fired power plants can be avoided. A case in point is
the proposed 100 MW Chamalapura project, against which people
living in the surrounding areas and in Mysore have strongly
protested due to the impacts it will have on livelihood and
agriculture. This is an opportune moment for Karnataka and the
Mysore Palace to shift towards sustainable energy consumption and
prevent irreparable damage to the climate and in turn people" he
added.
Greenpeace has demanded that the Indian Government Enact a
legislation prohibiting the manufacture and marketing of
inefficient lighting products and make it effective from 2010. The
efficiency standards for lighting in India should be made greater
than 25 lumens per watt by 2010, 35 lumen per watt by 2012, and 55
lumen per watt in 2015. Lighting products that do not conform to
these minimum standards should be phased out by the stated
deadlines.
For further information, contact
K Srinivas, Climate and Energy Expert, Greenpeace +91-9845112130
Ruchira Talukdar, Greenpeace Communications +91-9900264127
Visit : www.banthebulb.in
Notes to Editor
How to Interpret a Thermographic Image: The colours in the image are according to the temperature of the object or surface. Incandescent light bulbs waste 90% of the energy as heat and use only 10% for lighting, and hence have a higher temperature (red colour). CFLs on the other hand, use only 25% of the electricity which a light bulb uses, and generate the same amount of light. Since they do not waste energy in the form of heat, they appear cooler.