en.lighten
Efficient Lighting for Developing and Emerging Countries
First generation Country Lighting Assessments downloadable here>>
Low-energy consumption bulbs and other efficient lighting systems could have a dramatic impact on avoiding climate change and cutting energy bills, if disseminated worldwide. en.lighten initiative aims at accelerating global market transformation of environmentally sustainable, energy-efficient lighting technologies as well as to develop a global strategy to phase-out incandescent bulbs, thereby reducing global greenhouse gas emission from the lighting sector and the co-benefit of reducing mercury release from coal combustion.
en.lighten builds on the encouraging market development rates already achieved in some countries and seeks to further reinforce and expand the market in other countries. Cognizant of the mercury content in compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), en.lighten seeks to find feasible energy efficient alternatives to CFLs, in addition to addressing the current need to find environmentally sound recycling and disposal of CFL waste.
The en.lighten initiative builds upon existing lighting activities supported by the GEF and will serve as an umbrella programme under which further national projects could be undertaken.