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Following is a question by the Hon Choy so-yuk and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (March 28):
Question:
It has been reported that the Australian Government has announced that it will, before 2010, gradually ban conventional tungsten light bulbs ("tungsten bulbs") and replace them with compact fluorescent lamps ("CFLs"), in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it has estimated the respective numbers of tungsten bulbs used by each government department, including their offices and venues under their management, and various hospitals and schools, their respective annual power consumption and greenhouse gas emissions; if it has, of the assessment result; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) it has any plan to replace all tungsten bulbs with CFLs in government departments and encourage hospitals and schools to do so; if it has, of the details and timetable of the plan, and the estimated annual reduction in power consumption and greenhouse gas emissions; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) it will consider providing incentives to the public to replace tungsten bulbs with CFLs bulbs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d) it has any plan to follow the practice of the Australian Government to gradually ban conventional tungsten bulbs; if it has, of the details and timetable of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
To ensure that Government departments use energy efficient equipment, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) conducted 90 energy audits in Government buildings over the past three years to help departments switch to more energy efficient installations, including high energy efficient lighting system and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). At present, Government departments are required to appoint green managers and energy wardens to coordinate and implement energy conservation measures. The Government's electricity consumption has been reduced by 5.6% in 2005/06 when compared with 2002/03 (equivalent to 120 GWh), representing a reduction in carbon dioxide emission of about 84,000 tonnes.
The Education and Manpower Bureau and the Hospital Authority (HA) have issued guidelines respectively to all schools and HA hospitals, requiring them to implement energy conservation measures.
Through the above measures, Government departments have already been using CFLs in place of tungsten light bulbs as far as possible. However, we do not have detailed statistics on the number of tungsten bulb used in Government departments, hospitals and schools, nor the annual energy consumption of these tungsten bulbs and the corresponding greenhouse gas emission figures.
In 2005/06 and 2006/07, the EMSD spent $120 million to replace low energy efficient installations in Government buildings. The Government has set aside another $170 million in the coming four financial years to continue these projects. We expect that an annual electricity saving of 36 GWh will be achieved within the Government after the completion of these projects.
The Government has been publicising the energy conservation benefits of CFLs through various media and channels (such as organising different kinds of publicity campaigns and talks, and providing related information on the EMSD website). The EMSD has included CFLs in its voluntary Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme (EELS) since 1998. The Government will introduce a bill on the implementation of a mandatory EELS to the Legislative Council shortly. CFLs are among the electrical appliances to be covered in the initial phase of the mandatory scheme. The Government will continue to educate the public on energy conservation through education and publicity programmes with a view to further promoting the use of CFLs. In addition, CFLs use 75% less electricity and have a lamp life of 8 to 10 times longer than tungsten bulbs of the same brightness. The price of CFLs has also fallen in recent years. These financial considerations should already help encourage the public to switch to using CFLs and the Government considers it not necessary to provide further incentives.
We understand that only Australia and California of the United States have announced banning the use of tungsten bulbs in stages from 2009 to 2012 through legislation. We will closely monitor the international development and local situation to consider whether it is necessary to introduce other measures to encourage the public to switch to using CFLs.
Ends/Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:35
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