New Light Bulb Standards Announced

The biggest energy saver in the history of the Department of Energy (DOE) was announced by President Obama yesterday.

Lighting uses nearly 40% of all electricity used in commercial buildings. The standards announced today affect the more than 500 million fluorescent tube lamps and 265 million reflector lamps sold each year in the United States.

According to DOE, the new standards for lighting will save up to 1.2 trillion kilowatt-hours over thirty years, an amount about equal to the total consumption of all homes in the U.S. in one year.

Businesses and consumers will gain up to $35 billion in net savings and global warming carbon dioxide emissions will be cut by up to 594 million metric tons, an amount equal to the annual emissions of nearly 110 million cars. Read the press release here.