The Chilean government will distribute 1.4 million energy-saving light bulbs to some 250,000 families this year in an effort to bring down electric power consumption. The initiative is part of the second stage of a program that began in 2008, and which targeted the poorest 40 percent of the country’s population. The budget for this year amounts to 4.6 million dollars. Andrés Romero, executive director of the governmental program dubbed “An Energy-Efficient Country,” explained to Tierramérica that all new social housing would be equipped with low-consumption bulbs.

The first stage achieved a savings of 123 gigawatts/year, which is equivalent to “turning off” 78,000 households, Romero said.