You Are Here:
Greenpeace asks Surya Roshni to stop manufacturing incandescent light bulbs and shift production to CFLs
Close to hundred Greenpeace activists blockade the light bulb factory in Kashipur, Uttaranchal
Over ninety Greenpeace activists in chains and armlocks blockade the gates of the Surya Light bulb manufacturing unit in Kashipur, Uttaranchal. Greenpeace, as a part of its Ban the Bulb campaign is demanding a commitment from leading bulb manufacturers for shifting production in factories from incandescent lamps to CFLs.
Enlarge ImageGreenpeace had earlier published a "Guide to Climate Friendly Lighting in India" which ranked Surya as one of the leading Climate Criminals since the 974 lakhs light bulbs Surya produced annually are responsible for over thirty thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per day.
K Srinivas, Climate and Energy Expert, Greenpeace said "We are facing a planetary emergency. With eight years to take action on climate change, it is criminal to be producing incandescent light bulbs which waste energy and exacerbate global warming. India is already reeling under severe impacts of global warming. As a first step to secure the future of our society and economy, it is imperative for light bulb manufacturers to shift production in factories such as these completely to CFLs on a war footing"
He added "It is highly ironical that though the Managing Director of Surya Roshni Limited was awarded the Environmentalist of the year award in 1998 and the company projects itself as a responsible corporate with a sustainable environmental policy, it is continuing to produce one of the largest number of climate hazardous light bulbs in India. The activists will continue their blockade and prevent the movement of light bulbs out of the factory till Surya provides a time-bound commitment for shifting production from incandescent light bulb to Compact Fluorescent Lamps"
Commenting on the proposed move by the Government of India aimed at reducing the price of CFLs using clean development mechanism funds, Soumyabrata Rahut, Energy Expert, Greenpeace commented "While price reduction is necessary, market forces alone will not elimininate the energy guzzling bulbs soon enough to be effective in combating climate change. We therefore call upon the Government of India to simultaneously enact legislation to ban the bulb. The Government needs to find the will to take this relatively simple step immediately as there is much to be done in the battle against climate change afterwards."
Notes to Editor
To speak to Mr. B. D Agarwal, Surya Roshni, please call
011-25810093/94/95/96 (in New Delhi)
About Ban the Bulb Campaign:
Launched in April this year, the Greenpeace Ban the Bulb Campaign calls for a progressive phase out of inefficient lighting in India in order to reduce energy wastage and India's carbon dioxide emissions and fight climate change. As the first step in that direction, Greenpeace is demanding that legislation be passed in Parliament calling for a ban on the incandescent light bulb by 2010. Greenpeace is also asking major light bulb manufacturers to phase out the production and substitute it with CFLs within this period
of time.
Incandescent light bulb manufacturer's response:
Greenpeace sent letters to the lighting manufacturers earlier this year, asking companies to come out with specific time frames and plans for the phase out of incandescent light bulb production in India. Following this, the "Ranking Guide" for the lighting industry naming and shaming manufacturers responsible for the emission of the largest amount of carbon dioxide was released. The ranking guide was designed on the basis of the net
avoidable carbon dioxide emission. Philips emerged as the largest Climate Criminal, followed by Surya and Bajaj. Despite repeated communication from Greenpeace's side, companies have not come up with a time-bound commitment for stopping the production of incandescent light bulbs in India.
Incandescent Light Bulbs vs Compact Fluorescent Lamps:
Twenty percent of our electricity consumption is for lighting purposes. Lighting consumes 18000 MW of electricity. If all Incandescent light bulbs in India were to be replaced by CFLs, atleast 12000 MW of electricity could be saved. Further, this would result in the reduction of over 55 Million tonnes of CO2. An incandescent light bulb wastes 90% of the energy it consumes as heat, and uses only 10% to produce light. A compact Fluorescent lamp on the other hand consumes merely one-fourth of the energy to emit the same amount of light.
Vision, video, photos, report information
K Srinivas- Climate and Energy Expert, Greenpeace, 0-9845112130; ksrinivas@dialb.greenpeace.org Ruchira Talukdar- Greenpeace Communications (in Kashipur) 0-9900264127; greenpeaceindia@gmail.com Sandeep Bhattacharjee – Greenpeace Communications (in New Delhi) 0-9342501806, greenpeaceindia@gmail.com
