Christmas Lights

Chris Huhne
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate his Department has made of the (a) cost, (b) electricity used and (c) carbon emissions generated by Christmas lights.

Malcolm Wicks
The Energy Savings Trust has estimated that the use of Christmas lights would increase total electricity bills by approximately £7.8 million. This is based upon an increased usage of 75 GWh, which equates to carbon emissions of approximately 33,000 tonnes of CO2. In context the 75 GWh consumption figures is approximately 0.02 per cent. of total annual UK electricity consumption.