The government will distribute 1.05 crore compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs free of cost to households across the country in February next to save 350-400 MW electricity under a belt-tightening measure forced by frequent power outages.

The saved electricity will be diverted to the rural areas to supply more power to facilitate next dry season's irrigation for farming.

Berlin: Germans, who sometimes see themselves as guardians of the environment, are hoarding energy-guzzling incandescent light bulbs ahead of a looming European Union-wide ban, the GfK market research agency said.

Russia plans to ban the production and sales of powerful incandescent bulbs in 2011 that will save energy, according to economic development minister Elvira Nabiullina, chairperson of the task force for energy efficiency. Incandescent bulbs above 100 Wt would no longer be produced, which will save 10 to 20 per cent electricity, Nabiullina said.

Low price, high value
CFLs use only 20 per cent of the energy an incandescent bulb uses, to generate the same amount of illumination. They also last much longer. But they cost up to 10 times more. If made available at Rs 10-15, they will be great value for money.

The plan

Tesco is charging ahead with its plans to slap a carbon label on all of its private label products to denote the amount of greenhouse gas emissions it takes to produce each item.

NEW evidence confirms that global warming is now a reality and should be taken seriously. The report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that man's actions have contributed substantially to the observed warming over the last 50 years.

Brussels: The European Union will ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs from 2009, as part of an energy saving plan, EU sources said.

According to current Chair of the EU Energy Ministers Council, French Jean-Louis Borloo, the objective is to gradually replace the market by fluorescent energy-saving bulbs.

Technical guidelines for environmentally sound mercury management in flouroscent lamp sector by the CPCB. These guidelines are applicable, in principle, to other mercury-bearing lamps, as well.

Scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs are focusing on ways to help the environment. Some of our favorite ideas.

By 2012, all of Japan should be using energy-saving fluorescent bulbs rather than incandescent bulbs as part of the effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akira Amari said Saturday. "I think this is a prime example of a campaign that is accessible and can be participated in by everyone," Amari told a news conference after attending a public meeting on environmental issues in Toyako, Hokkaido, where the annual Group of Eight summit will be held in July.

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