ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Department of Energy (DoE) and various electric cooperatives in Zamboanga Peninsula and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) forged a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on the use and distribution of some two million compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in Mindanao in lieu of the power-consuming incandescent bulbs.

The MoA signing was held at the Garden Deck of Garden Orchid Hotel here between DoE officials, science research specialists, National Electrification Administration (NEA), and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).

It was learned that this initiative is under the Philippine Energy Efficiency Program (PEEP) of the DoE, and is being supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Dubbed “Switch to CFL,” this campaign places consumers in a better position to control their electricity use or demand.

According to studies conducted, on the average, ordinary incandescent light bulbs burn about 1,000 hours only, while CFLs, which will be distributed by DoE-PEEP, can last up to 10,000 burning hours.
CFLs consume up to 80 percent less electricity than incandescent bulbs for the same amount of illumination.

A total of 32 kilo-Watt/hour (kW/h) savings per year could be realized for every 40-watt incandescent bulb replaced with 15-watt CFL that is used for an average of 3.5 hours a day, which translates to about P300 annual savings per bulb.

Under this initiative, the two million CFLs to be distributed will result in about 64 GW/h per year of electricity savings.

This is equivalent to a reduction of around 28,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Also aimed at addressing the global problem on climate change, the reduction in carbon dioxide emission is important for the Philippines to help mitigate the adverse effects of climate change due to deforestation, dumping of wastes, and increasing use of fossil fuels.