News / Africa
Use energy saving bulbs: Zesa
17 Apr 2011 at 10:32hrs | Views
Zimbabwe has a shortfall of 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity of the 2000MW required daily and the country's power utility intends to cover that through the introduction of energy-saving legislation.
The country currently produces only 1300MW and imports 300MW, leaving a shortfall of 400MW.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) has urged policymakers to introduce a bill that will force electricity users to opt for energy-saving lights and do away with incandescent light bulbs.
"The best way to go around the energy issue is to lobby for the banning of incandescent light bulbs. We have in the past pushed for parliament to look at the issue," said Fullard Gwasira, the spokesman for Zesa.
If the authority has its wish granted it would like to see legislation that puts incandescent bulbs on a high import tariff.
If this happens, they would become a luxury and fewer people would prefer them and switch to energy-savers, most of which are produced locally.
"Energy-savers use less power and are more durable compared to incandescent light bulbs," said Gwasira.
Incandescent light bulbs have been banned in other parts of the world.
In 2009 a Europe-wide campaign to ban incandescent bulbs began.
The only complaint has been that energy-saving bulbs are not as bright as the incandescent ones.
"The whole world wants to save energy and banning these bulbs is one of the ways," Gwasira said.
The country currently produces only 1300MW and imports 300MW, leaving a shortfall of 400MW.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) has urged policymakers to introduce a bill that will force electricity users to opt for energy-saving lights and do away with incandescent light bulbs.
"The best way to go around the energy issue is to lobby for the banning of incandescent light bulbs. We have in the past pushed for parliament to look at the issue," said Fullard Gwasira, the spokesman for Zesa.
If the authority has its wish granted it would like to see legislation that puts incandescent bulbs on a high import tariff.
If this happens, they would become a luxury and fewer people would prefer them and switch to energy-savers, most of which are produced locally.
"Energy-savers use less power and are more durable compared to incandescent light bulbs," said Gwasira.
Incandescent light bulbs have been banned in other parts of the world.
In 2009 a Europe-wide campaign to ban incandescent bulbs began.
The only complaint has been that energy-saving bulbs are not as bright as the incandescent ones.
"The whole world wants to save energy and banning these bulbs is one of the ways," Gwasira said.
Source - Sapa
