HC Deb 08 March 1994 vol 239 cc153-4 3.36 pm
Mr. Keith Mans (Wyre)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to promote more efficient lighting and the consequent beneficial effects on the environment. Over the past six years, concern for the environment has resulted in many different measures being taken by the Government and others to encourage a more responsible attitude by both business and individuals towards the damage which their actions may cause the natural world. Over the same period, I have introduced four Bills that have concentrated on the environment, particularly on how individuals can contribute towards better environmental practices.

The Bill follows on from those earlier Bills. It is simply designed to encourage people to use less energy when they light their homes. After heating, lighting is the main consumer of electricity in Britain. If we could use a more energy-efficient means of lighting our homes, we would considerably reduce our emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. That would make it much easier for this country to meet its international targets for emissions, particularly those associated with carbon dioxide, which will be particularly hard to meet in present circumstances.

Energy-efficient lighting has been with us for some time in many public buildings. Only in the past few years, however, has it been available in any variety to the domestic market. The Bill is designed to encourage its further use in the following ways: first, building regulations administered by local authorities would include a requirement for all new domestic buildings and extensions to existing ones to be fitted with energy-efficient lighting where practical; secondly, it would allow local authorities to extend the use of the home energy efficiency scheme to include the purchase of such lighting; thirdly, it would encourage loans from the social fund available to people on income support to be used for such lighting as well.

The positive effect on the environment if energy-efficient lighting is used in people's homes is dramatic. If one energy-efficient light were fitted per household in the United Kingdom, the total number of lights would be 22 million. We could save 1,320 MW of electricity, which is the equivalent of the output of one large coal-fired or oil-fired power station. If such a station were shut down, our CO2 emissions would be reduced by 1.3 million tonnes per year. There would also be substantial reductions in the emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide.

The effect on people's pockets of energy-efficient lighting being used in their homes is even more dramatic. While an energy-efficient light costs between £6 and £14, compared with 50p for an ordinary light, it lasts eight times longer than an ordinary bulb and is five times more efficient. That would mean a saving in running costs of more than £10 a year if a 100 watt light were replaced by its energy-efficient equivalent. Even taking into account the difference in cost of the two lights, there is still a saving of more than £4 per bulb in the first year. That means that, for an average single person's electricity bill of £200, the purchase of four energy-efficient lights more than offsets the extra cost of VAT on electricity and, over a period of five years, saves such a person £100.

The message behind the Bill is simple. I want the Government to recognise the advantages to their energy-efficiency programme and their wider environmental objectives of encouraging and promoting the increased use of energy-efficient lighting.

I also want individuals to recognise that, regardless of any persuading by the Government, it is in their own interests to use energy-efficient lighting. Indeed, rather than paying large sums up front to electricity companies to avoid paying VAT, people can pay less on energy-efficient lighting, pay the VAT and still show an appreciable saving in their energy costs. At the very least, when an ordinary light next fails in people's houses, they should seriously consider buying an energy-efficient one.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Keith Mans, Mr. Simon Burns, Mr. Anthony Coombs, Mr. Henry Bellingham, Mr. A.J. Beith, Mr. Roger Knapman, Mr. Peter Ainsworth, Mr. Roy Thomason, Mr. John Sykes, Mr. Michael Bates and Mr. Harold Elletson.