Abu Dhabi, August 10: Up to 40,000 energy-saving light bulbs will be handed out in Abu Dhabi on August 14 and 15 as part of a new outreach initiative by ‘Heroes of the UAE’, the inspirational campaign developed to tackle the nation’s ecological footprint, climate change and rising energy demand.
The campaign, which kicked off at Marina Mall on Saturday, is aimed at encouraging the general public to use energy-saving light bulbs, also called Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFL), to not only conserve energy but also protect the environment from the deadly carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The event is organised by the Emirates Wildlife Society in association with the World Wide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF), the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Authority (ADWEA).
The initiative is expected to encourage sustainable living, urging local residents to take direct action at home by installing energy-saving light bulbs as a first step to reducing their own household carbon footprint.
If all 40,000 energy-saving light bulbs replace existing traditional light bulbs, the potential carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions savings resulting from the promotion will be equivalent to taking 2,000 cars off the road, Razan Al Mubarak, managing director, EWS-WWF said.
“Households alone are responsible for over 50 per cent of the UAE’s carbon footprint, consuming huge amounts of energy on a daily basis with lighting an important contributor,” she said.
Lighting accounts for almost 10 per cent of household energy consumption.
By switching to energy-saving light bulbs the average two-bedroom apartment could save up to Dh800 per year off their electricity bill.
In addition to being more efficient, energy-saving light bulbs last up to 10 times longer than traditional versions — yet another reason why every household should make the switch.
The UAE is the fifth highest per capita consumer of energy in the world, seven times the global average.
Furthermore, a potential risk exists within the UAE that energy demand could outstrip supply. Equally the UAE also has one of the highest per capita ecological footprint in the world, with over 80 per cent of this footprint related to CO2 emissions, largely due to fossil fuel-based energy consumption.
Global temperatures are likely to rise alongside these rising CO2 emissions. And as a result, the UAE is predicted to face hotter summers, rising sea levels, coastal erosion, biodiversity loss, scarcer freshwater, more extreme storms and economic impacts.
As part of an ongoing commitment across all levels of UAE society, the initiative will be launching a schools engagement phase as well as initiatives tackling the private sector and government institutions in coming months.
Majid Al Mansouri, secretary-general of Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi, emphasised that the scale of the problem requires action beyond lighting in the home.
“Only when each home adopts positive habits, will we be able to reduce our country’s carbon footprint,” he said.
–Agencies