A 30% Migration to Energy-Efficient Lighting Cuts Worldwide CO2 Emissions by 260 Million Tons and Electricity by 460 Billion kwhrs.

SINGAPORE -- OSRAM CEO Mr. Martin Goetzeler reasserts the lighting manufacturer giant's commitment to eco-friendly products at today's opening of the Global Business Summit for the Environment (B4E) organized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The summit is the first major international conference focusing on business and the environment in Asia. The event aims to highlight the environmental challenges facing global business today and share strategies and best practice for corporate environmental responsibility. In 1985, OSRAM (a 100%-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG) invented the world's first energy-saving lamp with the electronics integrated into the base for better energy efficiency, and is today one of the world's two largest lighting manufacturers offering a broad product range of energy saving lighting solutions for all applications including LEDs from our production facilities in Regensburg, Germany, and Penang, Malaysia.

"We are facing huge challenges with accelerating climate change. Every individual should contribute to protect our planet through the use of energy-efficient lighting systems. Taking into account potential savings by replacing incandescent lamps by compact fluorescent lamps and halogen energy savers and by including savings by using more efficient office and street lighting eAE while assuming that 30% of the world switch to using these energy-saving lighting products - this roughly translates to a reduction of 260 million tons in global CO2 emission and 460 billion kwhrs of electricity," estimates Martin Goetzeler, CEO of OSRAM. "This figure equates to roughly the annual electricity consumption of India, half of Japan or a quarter of China."

Artificial light accounts for 19% of the global demand for electricity - and offers a huge potential for energy savings (see additional information below). "It is important to ensure that energy-saving lighting systems meet the highest quality standards and represent a real contribution to environmental protection - and that includes their components, manufacturing process and waste disposal," Martin Goetzeler added.

Asia as key growth region in lighting market - Second plant in India to meet market demand

Asia Pacific currently accounts for an estimated 40% of the global lighting market, with industry analysts predicting steady growth which will increase its global market share to 50% by 2015. "Sustainable products will play a major role worldwide - also in APAC. As a result, OSRAM is strengthening its position in this growth region." OSRAM has already accomplished various milestones. In 2006, OSRAM set up its new pan-regional Asia organization with its headquarters in Hong Kong. Closer contact with customers was also the reason the company relocated the headquarters of the Ballasts and Luminaires Division to Hong Kong and the Display Systems Business Unit to Japan in 2006.

"This year, we are in progress of building a second plant in India which is aimed at producing sustainable lighting products. And we are also delivering on our strategy to continuously expand our presence in China."

OSRAM's global support for politically-backed environment initiatives

Through its involvement with industrial associations, OSRAM is actively promoting public policies made in favour of energy-efficient lighting. In Asia, OSRAM is supporting the efforts of several governments for their country's transition towards energy saving solutions. As a member of the European lamp association (ELC), OSRAM together with industry partners announced the industry commitment to support a government shift in Europe to more efficient lighting products in street, office and domestic lighting. And in the U.S., the company recently joined fellow members of the Lamp Section of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) in announcing a joint industry commitment to support public policies that will transform the U.S. market to more energy efficient lighting within 10 years.

With a global footprint spanning all continents and customers in 150 countries, Martin Goetzeler also emphasized OSRAM's commitment to promote energy-saving lighting systems in developing and emerging markets. "We are proud that in February 2007 after three years of continuous work we became the world's first lighting manufacturer to receive approval from the United Nations for a 'Clean Development Mechanism' (CDM) based on the Kyoto Protocol for reducing CO2 emissions." This sustainable methodology based on the Kyoto Protocol will enable millions of incandescent light bulbs to be directly replaced by energy-saving lamps over the next few years in developing and emerging countries mainly in Africa and Asia. "We invite all lighting manufacturers to adopt our publicly available CDM method and promote further energy-saving lighting." In addition, OSRAM's commitment towards developing and emerging countries is also reflected by World Bank tenders like in Uganda, where currently 800,000 incandescent lamps are being changed to energy saving lamps from OSRAM.

About the company

OSRAM (headquarters in Munich, Germany; 100 percent subsidiary of SIEMENS), is a member of the Global Compact and one of the two leading lighting manufacturers in the world. The birth of the OSRAM brand goes back to 1906. The company sells products primarily under the OSRAM brand name, and also under the SYLVANIA brand in NAFTA. Global sales in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006 totaled 4.6 billion euros, 88 percent of which came from outside Germany. OSRAM is a high-tech company in the lighting sector. Around 40 percent of sales come from innovative products, with R&D focusing among other things on sustainable materials and products. This global player employs around 40,000 people worldwide, supplies customers in some 150 countries and has 49 production facilities in 18 countries.

Background: energy saving lamps

Energy-saving lamps consume up to 80% less electricity than ordinary light bulbs for the same amount of light and last up to 15 times longer. An ordinary light bulb will burn on average for only 1000 hours. And it converts 95% of the energy it consumes into heat and only 5% into light. Over its life of up to 15 years an OSRAM Longlife energy-saving lamp will save about one megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity and around half a ton of CO2 emissions.

In the summer OSRAM will be launching energy-saving halogen lamps - giving consumers even more choice. These lamps produce brilliant light typical of halogen lamps but can be dimmed without restriction. They last twice as long as incandescent lamps and achieve energy savings of up to 30%.

There is also enormous potential for energy savings in the commercial and industrial sectors, and also for energy savings in the public sector (street lighting, for example). Simply by replacing conventional fluorescent lamps with intelligent energy-saving systems could save around 320 million MWh and 160 million tons of CO2 emissions worldwide each year. This corresponds to the CO2 emissions of all the vehicles registered in Germany.