Beijing Announces Incandescent Bulb Phase-out Plan

Taipei, April 30, 2012 (CENS)--By the end of 2015, all imports and sales of incandescent bulbs rated higher than 15W will be broadly banned in the China's capital city of Beijing, with and all government institutions, guesthouses, hotels, marketplaces, office buildings and factories in the city to be prohibited from using the bulbs.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform recently announced the incandescent bulb phase-out plan.

The bulbs will mostly be replaced by LEDs. From 2011 to 2012, the municipal government will replace the bulbs at government institutions and their underground parking lots with LED recessed lights and downlights. Also, the city government will pick up several underpasses as sites for LED lighting demonstration.

Over the next three years until 2015, the city government will expand LED lighting installation sites to include public spaces, marketplaces, guesthouses, hotels, office buildings and factories. In the meantime, the government will set up a recycle system to deal with replaced lamps.

The city government will carry out the phase-out plan in three steps: Prohibiting imports and sales of incandescent bulbs rated 100W and above beginning June 1 this year, banning imports and sales of incandescent bulbs rated 60W and above beginning June 1 next year and prohibiting imports and sales of the bulbs rated 15W and above beginning Jan. 1. 2015.

While encouraging uses of LED lamps as replacements for the energy-guzzling incandescent bulbs, the city government will offer subsidies, which can be as high as 30% of the value of each procurement case.