POLICY MEMO

Buenos Aires's “Pasate a LED” Program:

A Success in Cutting Down Carbon Emission for the Residential Sector Tianhui Xu

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
To reduce emissions in residential buildings, Buenos Aires introduced the program “Pasate a
LED”, letting residents exchange incandescent bulbs for LED bulbs which resulted in successful
mitigation of climate change effect and huge economic savings, as well as improvements in
health, inequality, and employment. Technological progress, together with education and
behavioral nudge ensured the society-wide successful transition to green energy. Implications
for future policies are also discussed.

PROBLEM
Compared with other C40
Latin American cities, Buenos
Aires ranks first in total
emissions and the emissions
of the stationary sector in
2018, according to data from
the C40 Knowledge portal¹,
as shown in Figure 1. Within
the stationary sector, the gap
is especially big in the
buildings subsector (both in
Figure 1. Emissions per capita in terms of tCO2e in the stationary sector for Latin American cities in 2018
residential and commercial
buildings), with Buenos Aires
producing 1.84 tCO2e in
2018, as shown in Figure 2.
The buildings sector is also
the largest contributor to the
city’s overall emissions
(48.29%). Therefore it’s
crucial and urgent to curb
emissions from buildings. Figure 2. Emissions per capita in terms of tCO2e in the buildings subsector for Latin American cities in 2018

SOLUTION
The city government of Buenos Aires has issued and implemented a series of policies to tackle the
problem, resulting in a decreasing trend of emissions in the subsector from 2017, as shown in
Figure 3.
 Figure 3. The trend of emissions per capita of Buenos Aires in the buildings subsector during 2000 - 2018

One of the policies implemented is the “Pasate a LED” (“Change to LED”) program. The program
aims to let residents hand in their original bulbs to be recycled and distribute LED bulbs. Till
January 2020, 162,757 households out of the planned 325,000 homes have been reached.
740,613 lamps were delivered in the first phase of the project, which implies an equivalent of
21,367 tCO2e reduced out of a planned 43,000 tCO2e total².

POLICY ANALYSIS
The Role of Technological
Progress
Technological processes paved
the way for emission curbing.
Lighting technologies improved
the quality of light, and energy
efficiency and also reduced
costs³. According to the US
Department of Energy⁴,
residential LED light bulbs save
75% of energy and last 25%
longer than incandescent lighting,
which enabled a decrease in CO2
emission. Beyond the availability
of new lighting methods, it’s the
relatively low costs and public
education which ensured the Figure 4. Women exchanging original light bulb for a LED light bult at a hub for "Pasate a LED"
Retrieved from nueva ciudad.⁶
successful adoption of the
technology. People are expected
to spend 14% less on their energy Behavioral Nudge
bills, which incentivized them to Additional to the relatively low cost, the design of the
welcome the new technology, program also made it easier for citizens to adopt the change.
without the need for additional The program provided 90 hubs in the city for residents to
incentives to nudge the switch. exchange incandescent light bulbs for new LED bulbs⁵. The
hubs are located close to low-income communities and come
The choice, therefore, produces
together with the distribution of information on energy
private benefits for the citizens
efficiency, nudging the citizens and making it easier for them
as well as positive externalities
to make more sustainable choices.
for society.
Implications for the economy:
The adoption of LED lights led to a reduction in energy costs because of the decrease in the use
of electricity. Beyond economic savings, the policy has external benefits in health and
employment, increasing the quality of lighting in households and creating new jobs in
manufacturing.
The fact that the policy has a focus on working-class neighborhoods also improved living
conditions for the less well-off, contributing to the alleviation of inequality. Including people
with comparatively less education attainment in climate change actions helped educate the
public, which is beneficial for future campaigns.
Despite all positive effects, we should also draw attention to workers in the lighting industry
who might have experienced layoffs or job-switching because of the drastically decreasing
demand for traditional light bulbs which was seen in the Netherlands⁷. Unemployment is not
only a burden for them but for society as well. Complementary policies to help them re-skill and
be employed should be implemented.

FUTURE IMPLICATIONS
The combination of reduced financial cost, distribution of climate change knowledge, and
behavioral nudge made possible the success of this program, which can be referenced by
future policies.
Building on the replacement of light bulbs, when constructing new buildings, lighting and
other usages of energy should be considered, which would make buildings reduce energy
consumption during their use and be self-sustainable

WORD COUNT: 698

BIBILOGRAPHY
1. C40 Knowledge Hub and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. (2021, January). Greenhouse
gas emissions interactive dashboard. Climate Action Planning. Retrieved from
https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/C40-cities-greenhouse-gas-emissions-
interactive-dashboard?language=en_US
2. ’Pasate a LED’—Buenos Aires Lamp Replacement Programme. (2020). C40 Cities.
https://www.c40.org/case-studies/buenos-aires-pasate-a-led/
3. Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction. (2020). GlobalABC REGIONAL Roadmap for
Buildings and Construction in Latin America. 155.
4. US Department of Energy. (2021). LED Lighting. Energy.Gov.
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/led-lighting
5. World Economic Forum. (2021). Urban Transformation: Integrated Energy Solutions. World
Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/reports/urban-transformation-integrated-
energy-solutions/
6. Larreta presentó el programa “Pasate a LED”—Nueva Ciudad. (2018). Retrieved November
14, 2022, from https://www.nueva-ciudad.com.ar/notas/201806/37546-larreta-presento-el-
programa-pasate-a-led.html
7. Koretsky, Z. (2021). Phasing out an embedded technology: Insights from banning the
incandescent light bulb in Europe. Energy Research & Social Science, 82, 102310.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102310
HC/LO APPENDIX
#ss164-techprogress: I described and analyzed outcomes from the technological progress which
enabled the replacement of LED bulbs. I pointed out key features which made the adoption of
technology successful which are the increase in energy efficiency (positive externality), reduced
cost (private benefit), and public education (nudge for the choice).
#ss164-economicinfluences: analyzed how the implementation of the environmental policy
influenced economic growth, the labor force in different sectors, and economic development.
#nudge: Explained how the distribution method and the strategic position of "hubs" can help
nudge citizens of Buenos Aires to participate in the program. Justified why it's effective together
with the presence of other factors like reduced financial cost and education.
#systemmapping: Decomposed the system in different ways to ensure effective analysis of the
problem. Decomposed the system into citizens, government agencies, and manufacturers to
analyze benefits and costs to demonstrate no conflict of interest. Decomposed the system
regarding different classes and living regions to analyze the impact of the policy on them.