Pakistan will save overall 2.2 billion-dollar electricity in system annually by replacing 30 million old incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in two years' time, says an ADB study.
Assisting Pakistan in energy sector on many fronts, the bank study also says that the key benefits of the programme are to avoid peak generation of 1,757 MW; annual energy saving of 2,310 GWh; total annual consumer electricity cost savings per light point Rs 302 and total CO2 emission reduction over CFL life 10.11 million to of CO2 equivalent.
To be quickly implemented across the country's residential market, 10 million CFLs to be distributed in phase I, spread over a period of four months, and distribution of another 20 million CFLs in phase II, spread over six months. The phase II will be initiated about eight months after the completion of phases I.
The CFLs, procured for the distribution, will have a specified life of 10,000 hours. Given that the average usage of CFLs in the domestic sector is about 3.69 hours per day, the CFLs are expected to last on an average more than nine years. Approximately, there are 113 million light points in the domestic sector in Pakistan.
The Pepco and the Discos will handle the distribution of the CFLs. A lamp waste management facility (LWMF) will be required for disposal of waste lamps in private sector on commercial basis. All the CFLs that will be distributed under the programme will be imported.
This programme is projected to recover its costs through reduced subsidies to low-income "lifeline" consumers. The higher tariffs, paid by more affluent consumers to support low-income consumers, plus the direct government subsidies, paid to support low-income consumers, will together generate a revenue surplus because low-income consumers will be consuming less electricity.
That surplus is projected to cover the costs of the CFLs and the programme administration. Pakistan has 19,420 megawatts (MW) of total installed generation capacity from hydroelectric, thermal and nuclear sources. Mainly conventional thermal plants supply electricity, with oil and natural gas being the primary fuel sources. Thermal power plants account for around 66 percent of the totalA capacity. Hydroelectric plants account for a further 32 percent of the capacity, with the remaining two percent supplied by nuclear power stations.
ENVIRONMENTAL DANGERS Mercury is a potent neurotoxin found in a variety of products. It affects the brain, liver and kidneys and can cause developmental disorders in children. Young children and developing foetuses are especially at risk. Breakage of CFL can potentially release mercury vapours in the air.
A typical CFL contains about three to four mg of mercury. For analysis, it is assumed that on breakage, the entire mercury content in a CFL is vaporised and is instantaneously distributed in a typical room of 40-m3 volume. The initial concentration of the mercury in the air would thus be about 100 µg/m3.
Even in a tightly insulated room, the rate of air change is of the order of 0.4 to 0.5 air changes per hour. This is equivalent to complete air change every two to 2.5 hours. Thus the mercury concentration will drop from the initial level to less than 40 µg/m3 in two hours and less than two µg/m3 in eight hours.
A burnt-out CFL is potentially hazardous waste because of the presence of mercury. Its disposal into municipal landfill and dumping site can result in release of mercury into the soil and to water bodies. There is currently no lamp waste management facility in the country.
The waste generated from fluorescent tube lights (FTL) and CFLs, used in the country, are dumped with other municipal waste into various waste dumping sites or are crushed without any safety consideration for disposal of glass. The 30 million CFLs, to be distributed under the proposed programme, will contain between 100 to 120 kilograms of mercury.
It is, therefore, pertinent to develop a lamp waste management facility with the required handling capacity. A modern LWMF is designed to recover glass, metal, mercury and chloride salt from the waste lamp in a manner that these can be reused.
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