Lighting technologies in the spotlight of government's energy-efficient program

The Lighting Council Australia has welcomed the government’s announcement today to focus on lighting as a priority area under the Equipment Energy Efficiency (E3) Program.

The E3 Program is engaged in significant work in lighting and has prepared a number of detailed options. These options include the phasing out of a range of some existing lighting technologies in favour of solid-state lighting — or LEDs.

“LEDs can deliver significant environmental and other benefits compared to traditional halogen lamps and gas discharge technologies such as fluorescent lamps,” Lighting Council Australia CEO Bryan Douglas said.

According to Lighting Council Australia, LEDs are inherently energy efficient — around five times more so than halogen lamps. LEDs do not contain the toxic element mercury. Hence transitioning to LEDs will reduce the amount of mercury entering landfill — a goal consistent with the Minamata Agreement on Mercury and FluoroCycle, Lighting Council Australia’s own voluntary lamp recycling program.

“While there have been quality problems with LEDs, particularly in the early stages of their development, there are excellent products now available for the vast majority of applications,” Douglas said.

He said that the E3 Program options include introducing mandatory performance standards for LEDs.