treehugger.com — The Australian government today announced they will be phasing in a ban on incandescent light bulbs, over the next three years. Householders replacing them with compact fluorescent bulbs are expected to save $30 per year, while Australia reduces its per annum CO2 emissions by up 4 million tonnes.
Feb 20, 2007 View in Crawl 4
chingy1788Feb 21, 2007
1. Fluorescants can be dimmed2. Wonder how you survive looking at your computer screen or television3. Mercury in fluorescants is far less than mercury released from power generators by using incandescent bulbs4. USA has not proposed a ban to my knowledge so if you live in the USA quit your complaining5. -6. have you seen how bright LEDs can get? esp if you cluster them up, such that there are enough LEDs to match the power usage of one incandescantif you stare at it closely for long periods LEDs can damage your eyes7. -8. Over the Fluorescant life time the Fluorescant wins out in costssure it costs abit now, but what about over 10 years, incandescant costs much more
lampajooFeb 21, 2007
"While I commend the Australians for their decision to ban the use of energy-inefficient incandescent bulbs, like any prohibition, it is bound to fail. Who's going to enforce it? Hopefully not the police, what a waste of their time. I think a better option would be to levy heavy taxes on incandescent bulbs, and leave CFLs untaxed. Let consumers make the choice themselves. As many have already mentioned, there are still legitimate uses for incandescents (photography, medical, etc), however CFLs are a better option in most cases."If there were any actual advantage to using incandescents then you would be right. But it's just that some people are bad at math and think they are saving money OR they are living hand to mouth and can't afford to pay anymore at one time. So I don't think that seriously broke and/or bad at math people are going to be the impetus for a giant black market in incandescents.It's incredibly easy to regulate what is and is not sold in a modern society. Sure it's possible for a few to get sold, but they will j ust gradually disappear from store shelves and no one will care. The Australian government should not be expected to financially compensate people for not allowing them to operate devices that are needlessly harmful to the environment.
dreddFeb 21, 2007
This is the Howard government way of pretending to do something about CO2 emissions. This will reduce Australia's CO2 emissions by 0.1%. Wow - totally worth writing legislation for. But it makes good press and allows all the ministers to keep their coal shares, not sign Kyoto and not bring in a carbon tax or emission's trading scheme.
frozenwookieFeb 21, 2007
i think this is an awesome idea, why use technology thats as old as grandma? i been using these around the house, and i love the money i save.
magicjavaFeb 23, 2007
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN VERSION: DO NOT BUY COMPACT FLOURESCENT LIGHT BULBSI feel it's very important to warn people these "green" bulbs contain mercury which will end up in landfills throughout the country if we make the switch to them.Here is a quote from a report by the National Institute of Health on the effects of Mercury:Quote - "Exposures to very small amounts of these compounds can result in devastating neurological damage and death. For fetuses, infants and children, the primary health effects of mercury are on neurological development. Even low levels of mercury exposure such as result from mother's consumption methylmercury in dietary sources can adversely affect the brain and nervous system. Impacts on memory, attention, language and other skills have been found in children exposed to moderate levels in the womb."Source : - <a class="user" href="http://orf.od.nih.gov/Environmental+Protection/Mercury+Free/MercuryHealthHazards.htm">http://orf.od.nih.gov/Environmental+Protection/Mercury+Free/MercuryHealthHazards.htm</a>Some folks will make the claim that using normal bulbs produces more mercury than these bulbs containing mercury. This claim is based on the assumption that all power comes from coal, which is not true, as shown in this quote from the EPA:Quote - "Please note that a major limitation of EPA’s estimate of mercury emissionssavings is that we assume a direct relationship between energy saved from using T8 lamps and a reductionin coal-fired electricity for all types of utility boilers; that is, the Agency assumes that, as the demand forenergy decreases, there would be a corresponding decrease in coal-fired electricity for all utilities andregions of the country. Yet, lamp manufacturers and utilities have indicated that, for many parts of thecountry, the marginal demand for electricity during business hours would be satisfied by gas and oil units,not necessarily coal-fired units. For such regions, a decrease in energy demand would not necessarily resultin a decrease in coal-fired electricity. This issue has not been resolved in the analysis."Source: <a class="user" href="http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/id/merc-emi/merc-pgs/emmrpt.pdf">http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/id/merc-emi/merc-pgs/emmrpt.pdf</a>Also note that the EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule will reduce mercury emissions from coal power plants by 70% by the year 2018. This is a much better solution than the "green" idea of dumping mercury into landfills all over the country.<a class="user" href="http://www.epa.gov/mercury/control_emissions/index.htm">http://www.epa.gov/mercury/control_emissions/index.htm</a><a class="user" href="http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/pollutioncontrols/overview_mercurycontrols.html">http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/pollutioncontrols/overview_mercurycontrols.html</a> If you want to reduce the amount of energy you consume from light bulbs then please follow these steps:1) Use natural light to its fullest effect, including scheduling your tasks to take advantage of natural light.2) Buy smaller wattage bulbs. 3) Use candles.Please do not buy these mercury bulbs. We are just now reaching the point where we've cleaned up the mercury in landfills. We don't need to turn around and put it back now. Compact fluorescent bulbs are listed by the government as hazardous items. For those folks who I cannot convince to not use these bulbs, here are the procedures for properly disposing of them, taken from the GE website:• Like paint, batteries, thermostats, and other hazardous household items, CFLs should be disposed of properly. Do not throw CFLs away in your household garbage if better disposal options exist. To find out what to do first check www.earth911.org (where you can find disposal options by using your zip code) or call 1-877-EARTH911 for local disposal options. Another option is to check directly with your local waste management agency for recycling options and disposal guidelines in your community. Additional information is available at www.lamprecycle.org. Finally, IKEA stores take back used CFLs, and other retailers are currently exploring take back programs.• If your local waste management agency offers no other disposal options except your household garbage, place the CFL in a plastic bag and seal it before putting it in the trash. If your waste agency incinerates its garbage, you should search a wider geographic area for proper disposal options. Never send a CFL or other mercury containing product to an incinerator.Source: <a class="user" href="http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/ask_us/faq_compact.htm#disposal">http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/ask_us/faq_compact.htm#disposal</a>
Closed AccountFeb 24, 2007
Why the f**k are we doing that here?... oh sorry, I forgot, Bush is too busy trying to save us all from "terrorists"... forget the freakin' planet!!
Closed AccountFeb 24, 2007
@smithfly114 Oh yes!... The govt should bring ASBESTOS back too!!... We should all have the RIGHT to CHOOSE ASBESTOS if we want to use it!... Come-on, how bloody stupid is that.... and how bloody stupid is your argument? For once here a Govt is trying to implement something that can help the entire planet.... and all you are worried about is your stupid little selfish self! Don't you care that your kids, and their kids may have a better life if we change a few tiny things? How much would your life really be affected if it the US Govt stopped incandescent bulb sales??? You really make me sick you righteous, ignorant, selfish prick!
szembekFeb 26, 2007
chingy1788: GE and Sylvania both take 20 seconds to get bright. So no, using a name brand does not ensure that it will get bright instantly. Next time you don't have a f**king clue what you're talking about, how about you just don't say anything.
jedmeisterMar 3, 2007
Face it folks global warming is a reality, and whilst there is some debate on how much impact humans are having, I believe it is obvious that we are having a major impact. Whilst on the surface this [light bulb policy] seems like a somewhat reasonable policy, I do believe that it is knee-jerk and doesn't consider the other aspects such as pollution (from CFs). The thing that amazes me is that we don't start to look more seriously at reducing the amount of energy we use rather than trying to find better/cleaner sources of it! Or is that maybe just too common sense for today's people?As for nuclear power, I agree that handled correctly there may be some place for it while we reduce our carbon emissions. But realistically, I still think we need to work it out better before before we start pretending that the old, dirty, inefficient nuclear technology being used at present is going to save the world.@ evilTak "I'm confused as to how a government can be simultaneously liberal and fascist..."This may have been covered already (I couldn't be bothered reading all of the above comments) but here's my bit:It should have read "Liberal fascist" rather than "liberal fascist"Only in Australia is a right wing conservative political party called the Liberal party!
anon911jMar 16, 2009
please use the link and read the following article<a class="user" href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/89185/Dangers-of-low-energy-lightbulbs" rel="nofollow">http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/89185/Dangers- ...</a>