At a recent meeting, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ministers of energy took a decision to phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs in all CARICOM member countries:

As the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) moves to become more energy efficient, steps are being taken to phase out the use of incandescent bulbs. On the basis of a mandate from the CARICOM Energy Ministers, plans for the phase‑out programme are now being developed by the CARICOM Secretariat and the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) and are expected to be completed in September 2018.

The programme, according to Representatives from the CARICOM Secretariat, will include a roadmap to reduce the import and sale of incandescent light bulbs within the Region, and will guide and support countries in the establishment of regulations and actions for the phasing out exercise. If all goes according to the plan, incandescent bulbs will gradually be phased-out as energy efficiency standards for lighting are phased-in. The phase-out schedule could begin as early as January 2019 with the 100 watt incandescent bulbs, with further restrictions on smaller lamp sizes entering into force in incremental stages over a number of years.

The decision to develop the phase-out programme was taken at the recently-concluded Meeting of CARICOM Energy Ministers. The Meeting was held at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana on 19 April, 2018,  and was chaired by Senator the Hon. Darcy Boyce, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados with responsibility for Energy. The Ministers took the decision as part of the menu of quality measures that are being undertaken to steer the Community towards energy efficiency and sector regulation.

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Cuba was the first country in the world to successfully complete the phase-out of incandescent bulbs. In 2007, the Caribbean country banned the import and sale of incandescent bulbs and implemented a programme for their direct substitution with CFLs in households. According to reports, about 116 million incandescent bulbs were replaced by CFLs in every household in Cuba, resulting in peak demand savings of about 4,000 MW and eight million tons of carbon emissions.

For more information, read the full report at CARICOM Today.

[Image: James Bowe]