Gov't to inject 54.5 bln won to fuel energy efficient lighting use

SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- The government said Thursday it will spend 54.5
billion won (US$47.0 million) this year to increase the use of energy efficient
lighting products, a measure aimed at helping South Korea cut back on greenhouse
gas emissions.

The funds will promote use of light-emitting diode (LED)-based lighting products,
power transformers and inverters, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
The effort is expected to cut carbon emissions by 284,760 tons and save 678
gigawatt hours of electricity.
The total savings are equal to power used by 200,000 households. The cuts can
help South Korea meet its greenhouse gas reduction target and save money that
would have been used to import energy resources, the ministry said.
The country imports most of its oil, gas and coal energy from abroad, and pledged
last year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent of its "business as
usual" forecast for 2020.
Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have been cited as the cause behind
global climate change.
Of the funding, 11.0 billion won will be used to replace regular incandescent and
halogen lights with energy efficient LEDs.
State subsidies to encourage people to change their incandescent and halogen
lights can reach up to 50 percent of the total cost, the ministry said, adding it
wants to replace all incandescent with LEDs by 2014.
The ministry, which is in charge of the country's energy policy, said that the
state-run Korea Energy Management Corp. and Korea Electric Power Corp. will be
tasked with helping improve lighting efficiency this year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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