A Switch For The Better

In order to reduce the amount of energy consumption in Malaysia, our government will stop all production, import and sales of the traditional light bulb by 2014 as part of the ever-going effort to save power. These traditional light bulbs-also called incandescent light bulbs, use more energy than the fluorescent lamps, fluorescent tubes and light-emitting diodes.

The moving to stop the production of the bulbs would reduce energy usage in the country by 1,074 gigawatts and would save RM 336 mil a year for energy cost. Apart from that, it will also reduce the emission of the amount of carbon dioxide by 732 000 tonnes per year. This further proves that this move is needed for the continuation of our world.

In order for this plan to come true, two phases must be done. The first phase would involve stopping all production, import and sales of 100 watt or higher capacity bulbs from January to December of 2011. Meanwhile, the second phase from January 2012 till the end of 2013 will see an end to the production, import and sales of all other light bulbs.

The move is also in relation to what our Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is trying to achieve in order to reduce the intensity of carbon usage by 40% by the year 2020. He announced his request at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference that was held in Copenhagen in December last year.

In association to this, the Housing and Local Government Ministry has proposed the use of LED bulbs to substitute the use of conventional light bulbs in street lamps. The 60 Watts LED bulbs are equivalent to 250 Watts conventional light bulb. This would mean that a lot of electricity and energy would be saved by this act.

I am very impressed by the ministry’s act to reduce the consumption of power which is an oppressing problem in our society. I believe that everybody must play their part in order to conserve our environment because if each one of us contributes a little every day, it will help preserve planet Earth for longer.

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In other news, I went to I-City the other day with my friends and was astounded by the sea of colours and beautiful sights. But underneath it all, I wondered how much money and energy is wasted by lighting up those trees, buildings, lights, animals and ornaments every night for the leisure of the visitors. There might be a structural plan of some sort about the power conservation and the usage of the ‘city’ which I am not aware of, but I would like to know if I could, rather than just imposing judgment towards it. All in all, I am very proud of our government to take charge of the situation because not many people in Malaysia consider this as a serious problem.