Lighting energy use in Anding District, Gansu Province, China

An energy use survey of 237 households was carried out in rural Anding district, Gansu province, P.R. China in 2010. Baseline lighting electricity use was assessed for current (2010) and future use (2020) and compared by light bulb type, household room, and seasonal differences. A simple life cycle assessment (LCA) compared strategies such as replacing incandescents with CFLs and reducing total daily hours of lighting to assess possible greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. Replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) has the potential to reduce current and future annual energy use by 27% and 23% respectively. Within households, replacing bedroom light bulbs with CFLs reduces GHG emissions most, over 38% of the total CO2 equivalent reductions possible. A focus on bedroom lighting in rural Anding district has the best potential to aid China's carbon intensity reduction goals by 2020.