Governments Listed LED Lighting Industry as One of The Main Industries for Development

The increasing awareness of energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction has been driving the growth of the LED lighting market. Many governments around the world have listed the LED lighting industry as one of the main industries for development. According to statistics, the 2011 output value of Taiwan's LED lighting sector will reach NT$198 billion (US$6.6 billion). However, South Korea already surpassed Taiwan in output value of LED packaging in 2010. China's LED industry has been expanding rapidly as well. Industry observers think South Korea will become the biggest competition for Taiwan-based LED firms. Furthermore, China-based firms have been lowering their reliance on Taiwan's technologies, hence Taiwan's advantage will not last over two years. Yi-Jen Chan, vice president and general director of Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Laboratories and Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), suggested the LED lighting market to take off in 2015. However, obstacles of commercialization lie in pricing, and government help will be needed to lower prices. The industry also needs vertical integration for Taiwan's LED firms to become more competitive before 2015. According to Jerry JR Ou, director general of the Taiwan government's Bureau of Energy (BOE), the development of Taiwan's LED industry has been in line with the government's policies of energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction. As for Taiwan's domestic market, Ou said statistics show the energy conservation for the past three years have saved ees up to NT$300.7 billion. Ou indicated that the government plans to introduce policies to use money saved from conserving energy to purchase LED streetlights. The government also plans to have adopt LED for emergency exit lights in government departments and schools before 2012, added Ou. The government also plans to ban the production and importation of incandescent lights above 25W that do not fit the energy efficiency standards. The ban of usage of 25W incandescent lights will extend to hotels and department stores, said Ou. Robert Yeh, chairman of Everlight, indicated that Taiwan was the first to set up streetlight standards, but the development of LED products and systems have been stalling. The country lacks a national labeling system to allow consumers to identify quality products. Taiwan should set up quality standards and subsidy programs for LED lighting products as soon as possible to increase consumers' willingness and confidence when purchasing. Chi-Yuan Liang, chairman of Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER), stated that 99% of energy in Taiwan are imported and takes up 10% of total GDP. If Taiwan can conserve energy, GDP will increase and stimulate the country's economic growth. Hence energy conservation will not hamper economic development, but instead can create more jobs. Government should encourage the usage of LED lighting. The LED industry is a golden industry of the future, added Liang. Ming-Hsin Kung, vice president of Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER), noted Taiwan's government is still lagging behind. The government offers subsidies for traffic lights and streetlamps, but the amount is relatively small compared with subsidies for the solar industry. Many countries have banned the usage of cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) and Taiwan's government should follow suit. Tsai-Yi Wu, president of Taiwan Research Institute, pointed out the importance of stable energy source. In the development of renewable energy source, traditional fossil fuels must also play a back-up role. The electricity fees in Taiwan have been way too low for a long period of time. If the country adopts LED lighting, 22.4 billion kWh of electricity can be saved. Source: Digitimes. Com