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Energy - 20.10.2005

Tomorrow's street lights: cheaper, cleaner and better!

Investing in new street lighting technology can be cheaper and better for your town - and help meet the Kyoto targets! That was the message from a round table discussion in Brussels on 19 October 2005.

Speakers included Chris Davies MEP (ALDE, UK), Theo van Deursen, Chief Executive Officer of Philips Lighting, CEMR Secretary-General Jeremy Smith, and representatives from the lighting industry and local government.

Theo van Deursen explained that the technology is available, and in his experience it led to major savings. He also showed 'before" and 'after" photos of the street scene in a London borough to back up his contention that the quality of lighting also improved. The problem is that only some 3% of street lights are currently renewed each year, he said. At this rate, it would take 30 years to complete the investment round. We need to use all means to speed up this process and achieve the savings that are available.

Chris Davies gave his backing to the need to speed up the introduction of energy-saving technologies; he suggested that the industry could do more to make it simpler for public authorities to purchase new appliances or finance the new investments. Governments and the EU could do more to provide positive incentives for investments, he added.

Jeremy Smith suggested that more needs to be done to win political and management support at senior level for energy-saving investments: It is crucial to demonstrate that the payback period - counting the investment and running costs together - was a good one for the local government. CEMR is ready to publicize clear benefits in modern lighting and other low energy appliances

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Marlon Hilden
Climate, Sustainable Finance Officer

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