Kazakhstan, Astana, May 14 / Trend, D. Mukhtarov /
A gradual transition to LED lamps has been proposed in Kazakhstan, Vice-Minister of Industry and New Technologies Kanysh Tuleushin said at a government meeting in Astana on Tuesday.
"Today, Kazakhstan spends almost 10 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity on lighting. Legally, we have banned the use of incandescent bulbs. However, in light of changes in the market and unresolved issues for the disposal of mercury-containing lamps, we propose a phased transition to LED lamps," Tuleushin said.
He explained that LED lights are up to five times more efficient than mercury-containing lamps and up to 20 times more efficient than incandescent bulbs.
According to him, the country has already opened 13 enterprises for the production of energy-saving lamps, 11 of them for the production of LEDs.
"In regards to price, LED bulbs have been closing in on that of mercury-containing bulbs over the last three years. Prices fell from 4,000-5,000 tenge to 1,200 tenge for domestic LED lamps ($ 1-150.8 tenge). This is quite a competitive price world wide (in the U.S. and Europe, prices are also range from $8-10)," Tuleushin said.
Thus, according to him,with the transition to LED lamps it is possible to save up to nine billion kilowatt/hours of electricity.
"In this regard, we propose to legally ban the production and sale of mercury-containing lamps," he stressed.
The Deputy Minister added that there are also proposals to upgrade interior lighting in public buildings and to reconstruct street lighting in cities and towns.