UK: power-hogging light bulbs getting the chop from 2008

Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for the Environment, says British shops will start removing energy inefficient light bulbs from shelves from next year.

And about time, too. The Aussies are already ahead of us here, and they’re busy limbering up for a good beating on the weekend’s rugby too…

Defra’s press release here:

This voluntary initiative, which is being led by major retailers and energy suppliers, will see energy efficient light bulbs replace their least efficient equivalents on shop shelves over the next four years.

Its aim is to save up to 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2012 from UK electricity generation – the equivalent to the carbon emissions of a typical 1 Giga Watt coal fired power station.