The high price of alternatives to incandescent lamps and a lack of information campaign have discouraged Filipinos from switching to more energy efficient lamps, business executives and environmentalists said during the launch of an energy conservation program.

During the launch of Bright Light campaign, Rico Gonzales, chief executive officer of Philips Philippines said a major constraint in promoting the use of the energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) is its higher price compared to the incandescent lamps.

Gonzales said that Filipinos, particularly those from the C, D and E class, still prefer incandescent lamps because CFLs are four times more expensive.  He estimates that while the price of incandescent lamps ranges from P20-25 the price of CFLs can reach as high as P100.

“Those from the C, D, E classes see the P20 but not the savings from the energy efficient lamps,” Gonzales said.

Experts estimate that CFLs use 80 pecent less energy and last from 6,000 to 15,000 hours or fifteen times longer than incandescent lamps.

Converting one 100w incandescent bulb to an 18W CFL, Gonzales said, will give consumers 80% in energy savings if used for 12 hours a day.

“This means consumers can save up to P5,000 savings for one and half years (based on a P9.50 per KwH),” Gonzales told reporters on the launch of the Bright Light campaign of Philips, Sun Life Financial, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines) and Ace Hardware.

Lack of information

Meanwhile, David Valdes, president of WWF-Philippines said lack of information campaign about the benefits of switching to CFLs is also a major stumbling block to the campaign since most Filipinos  still use incandescent lamps because they do not know the its effect on the environment.

“Changing the habits [of the consumers] is a great challenge,” said Valdes.

The use of CFLs has been promoted by various sectors because of they emit less carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Early this year, President Arroyo announced that the country will phase out incandescent lamps by 2010 and will campaign for the use of more efficient bulbs.

High level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes global warming, which the leads to climate change and abnormal weather conditions for a long time.

Organizers of the campaign estimate that each incandescent lamp switched to CFL is expected to save our atmosphere 328 kilograms of carbon monoxide and that using ten bulbs can spare the atmosphere around 328,000 kg of carbon dioxide, an amount that is equivalent to preserving 270 acres of natural habitat.

“Given the difficulties in today’s economy and the threats to global warming, we need to be aware of what simple things we can do make our lives better and make the earth livable for future generation,” Gonzales said.

The Bright Light campaign targets the sale of 30,000 CFL bulbs which can spare the environment 9.6 million kg of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The effort, organizers said, can help preserving Amazon rainforests as big as 1,200 football fields.

“The campaign aims to raise awareness of how simple switch of the bulbs we use at home and office can make a big difference in our fight for a better world,” said Henry Joseph Herrera, chief executive officer of Sun Life Financial.

To reach the target, organizers have come up with incentives for consumers like P15 discount for every CFL bulb bought in participating ACE Hardware stores and P10 donation of Sun Life to the WWF for every bulb purchased.

Meanwhile, Johnny Cobankiat, CEO of Ace Hardware, also announced that by the end of the year, their stores will stop selling incandescent lamps. (abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak)

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