Light bulbs to be phased out, starting next year, in battle for green vote

[FabianPattberg]

Hello members,

Some interesting news from the UK:

Article from the Times today:

High-energy light bulbs will begin to be phased out from shops within months, under a timetable agreed by retailers and energy companies.
Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said yesterday that the plan to replace all traditional light bulbs with energy-efficient light bulbs within four years would save the equivalent of five million tonnes of CO2 a year.
The deal is likely to be used by Gordon Brown as a practical example of the Government’s environment policy as he prepares to do battle with David Cameron for the green vote.
The Prime Minister wants Britain to be among the first countries in Europe to phase out standard light bulbs. Television set-top boxes and standby buttons are next in the Government’s sights as ministers try to encourage manufacturers to offer more energy-saving products.
Under the voluntary agreement, the largest retailers and many corner shops will stop replacing their stock of the brightest 150-watt bulbs from next January. They have agreed to stop selling 100-watt bulbs by January 2009, and to scrap 60-watt bulbs by January 2010. Remaining standard incandescent light bulbs, chiefly 40-watt bulbs and “candle” and “golf-ball” lamps, would be removed from sale by December 2011.
Kevin Hawkins, director-general of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Retailers are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and play an active role in helping consumers reduce their own environmental impact.”
Philip Sellwood, of the Energy Saving Trust, which advises householders on reducing usage, was delighted with the move. “If everyone in the UK installed three energy-saving light bulbs, we would save enough energy to power all the UK’s street lighting for a year,” he said.
Ministers will publish a consultation paper soon, proposing new standards for more energy-efficient domestic lighting products.
Environmentalist campaigners gave the move a guarded welcome, urging the Government to go farther with compulsory action rather than a voluntary deal, but it was belittled by the Conservatives.
John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: “This initiative, which will reduce the UK’s CO2 emissions and finally begin to consign these hugely energy wasteful bulbs to the history books, is long overdue.
“However, almost all of the retailers involved have already committed to removing these bulbs ahead of 2011 after a campaign by Greenpeace. We think the Government needs to go further and introduce tough mandatory efficiency standards rather than relying on weak voluntary initiatives.”
Peter Ainsworth, the Shadow Environment Secretary, said: “If this is the sum of Labour’s commitment to the environment it is clear why they have consistently failed to meet our emission targets.”
In his conference speech, Mr Benn also confirmed that the Government planned to give ramblers a statutory right of access to the whole of England’s coastline. “I can confirm today that we now intend to legislate so that each of us has – for the first time in our history – the right to walk around our coastline from the white cliffs of the South Coast to the wild cliffs of Northumberland,” he told delegates.

[marklad2020]

Here is something we recently wrote at TalkClimateChange about the subject of low energy lightbulbs after reading some letters in the newspaper..

Today your Green Team leader read some interesting letters in Britain’s Daily Telegraph. We thought these letters were worthy of reply.

Sir – The new bulbs are expensive to produce, contain mercury and are slow to achieve maximum intensity (I can't call it brightness). The true energy saving will be well under half that claimed. We replaced all our bulbs 10 years ago, but subsequently took them out because they are useless. They're still in my cupboard.

Tony Baker, Edinburgh

I have a ten year old mobile phone in my cupboard. It's also rubbish. The new bulbs have a longer life, which fully offsets the additional manufacturing complexity. They are fully recyclable so don’t worry about the mercury, but you may buy low mercury variants if this concerns you. TCC.

Sir – The Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, has announced that the Government plans to phase out all traditional high-energy light bulbs by 2011 (report, September 28). He estimates that the move will save five million tonnes of CO2 a year.

Unfortunately, his colleagues in the Department for Transport are working in the opposite direction. They want to expand aviation in Britain and thus increase greenhouse gas emissions. Building another runway at Stansted would add more than five million tonnes of CO2 a year. So all Mr Benn's light bulb efforts will be negated by just one extra runway at Stansted. So much for joined-up thinking in Whitehall.

Peter, Essex.

Dear Peter,

We think that’s a great move by Mr. Benn, effectively offsetting the additional runway at Stanstead so that you may continue to enjoy the advantage of air travel without further contributing to Global Warming. Going Green doesn’t have to mean closing down the economy, we just need to be smarter in our use of the Earth’s natural resources. TCC.

Sir – I have four fittings whose shades attach to incandescent light bulbs but will not fit energy-saving ones. Can the Government tell me, please, which environmentally friendly factory in China will produce the replacement shades, how they will be transported to this country without leaving a carbon footprint and what exactly I am supposed to do with the old ones?

Perhaps they will also say how I will stop the ultra-violet light from the new bulbs fading my furnishings and pictures. Every museum and art gallery in the country will want to know the answer to that question.

John Brandon, Tonbridge, Kent

Dear John,

We can offer several suggestions. Impose import duties on Chinese goods which are not certificated as environmentally friendly. The Chinese are smart people and, unlike us, will not waste time making sure their products are environmentally friendly. Ocean shipping is already very green, contributing just 1% of all global emissions. Alternatively, keep your old bulbs and shades for now and just replace them with the low energy variety the next time you redecorate. UV from energy saving bulbs is negligible compared to the natural light coming through your windows, but use a low UV variant if this is worries you. TCC.

[Paul Smith]

Mark, I love the replies that they have for these people. I appreciate the broadness of thinking, beyond a single factor, especially in the airport question.

I have a few questions myself.

While I was recently with a friend who works for a local organization called Power Up, which supplies businesses with sustainable lighting, free of charge, he told me a few things that surprised me, and I'm wondering what other people have to say about these: He said that regular incandescent lights also contain mercury as well, and that the amount in CFLs is less. He later said, when I told him of a CFL that burned out, much less then the the touted 9 years, that it was due to it being in the bathroom. When asked to elaborate, he said that CFLs that are turned on for short durations are wear out much quicker, and that the ideal conditions, both for longevity and energy savings, is leaving them on, as in a cafe or some such place.

Thoughts?

[marklad2020]

He said that regular incandescent lights also contain mercury as well, and that the amount in CFLs is less.

I think it depends on the exact brand and type used. In general today CFLs have to be recycled carefully. The key thing is that they are a quickly developing technology and are getting greener in thier manufacture. As long as they are correctly recycled you have no worries. There are far more dangerous things out there than CFLs.

He later said, when I told him of a CFL that burned out, much less then the the touted 9 years, that it was due to it being in the bathroom. When asked to elaborate, he said that CFLs that are turned on for short durations are wear out much quicker, and that the ideal conditions, both for longevity and energy savings, is leaving them on, as in a cafe or some such place.

I think this is generally correct. In fact, the energy required to switch on a CFL is often higher than that used to leave it running for a few minutes. In many cases it is better to leave it switched on for 5 minutes than to turn it off and on again. This of course varies by the bulb, size and exact type.

[Paul Smith]

Thanks Mark. I just read an article about Frog Design, which came up with a light that is incandeccent shaped, made of unbreakable plastic, and has a high output, dimmable LED. Not coming to a market near you soon, but inspiring to see. The article is a good read as well...At Frog, Being Green Isn’t Easy; It’s Essential