April 2010: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has issued a paper titled “Phase Out of Incandescent Lamps: Implications for international supply and demand for regulatory compliant lamps.” The paper assesses the newly created demand for energy efficient lighting and the capacity and motivation of industry to meet increasing future demand for these products.
The paper begins by outlining improved lighting technologies and their performance. It then provides an overview of policies in dozens of countries currently pursuing domestic lighting reform. It continues with a look at international lamp markets and the current and projected demand brought about by these policies, which phase-in requirements over many years, through a range of scenarios.
Key messages of the report include that: significant increases in demand for efficient lighting are predicted, depending on the stringency and rapidity of policy implementation across countries; no risk of a shortfall in supply of efficient lamps exists, but there is a risk that they will not be of adequate quality; China will play a significant role in shifts of global demand and supply of efficient lighting; and options for buyers to choose alternative lighting technologies will increase dramatically in the near future. [The Paper]