The Japanese government intends to phase out the country’s incandescent light bulbs and fluorescent tubes by 2020, and convert all lights to LEDs, reported Asahi Shinbun.
The policy was formulated ahead of the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change scheduled to take place at the end of this month in Paris.
According to the report, the policy could place an economic strain on households and businesses leave them with no inexpensive light source purchase options.
It is projected Japan will undergo a rapid LED light source replacement period, once imports of current light bulbs and fluorescent tubes are halted, and domestic stocks dry up. The situation would lead to decreased LED bulb costs plus uptick in demand.
The Japanese government has been regulating fluorescent tubes and LED lamp imports under the “top runner system,” which only permits imports of new merchandises with better energy efficiency performance than products from the same category.
Incandescent light bulbs, fluorescent tubes and LED lamps are currently assigned to different categories. But are expected to be integrated into a single lamp category under the country’s energy efficiency action plan that is scheduled to be established by summer 2016.
This policy would forcefully remove light bulbs and fluorescent tubes from the market because LED lamps are far more energy efficient than traditional light sources.
The Japanese government will make these changes by revising the Rational Use of Energy Law, commonly known as the energy conservation law.
