China's Green Lights Program: A review and assessment

Fei Guo and Shonali Pachauri

Energy Policy, 2017, vol. 110, issue C, 31-39

Abstract: Lighting accounts for 10–13% of China's electricity consumption. Triggered by the nationwide power shortage of the mid-1990s, the Chinese government launched its Green Lights Program in 1996. Since then, this program has been continuously highlighted in the nation's 9th–12th Five-Year Plans (1996–2015). This paper presents a review and assessment of this program during the past two decades. Based on available data, the achievements along with the implementation of this program are assessed by examining a set of indicators of electricity savings, consumer savings, market penetration, product quality, and production capacity expansion. The success of this programs can be attributed to several factors: 1) strong and sustained government commitment; 2) prioritized policy focus by program stages; 3) extensive efforts on product quality control; 4) a close symbiosis of energy efficiency policies with industrial development policies; and 5) the implementation of various incentive schemes. Nonetheless, several challenges are evident that the program needs to address in its next phase. These include: 1) promoting the use of efficient lighting products in rural China; 2) emphasizing the overall efficacy of lighting fixtures rather than focusing only on bulb efficacy; and 3) promoting the healthy development of an emerging semiconductor lighting industry in the nation.

Keywords: Green Lights Program; Efficient lighting products; Policy assessment; Product quality control; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:110:y:2017:i:c:p:31-39

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.08.002

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