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Okay, so I'm not setting any records for exclusivity here, this is last weeks news, but the EU have pledged to phase out the use of traditional incandescent lightbulbs, to be replaced by the energy efficient type.
Apparently this follows similar decisions by the Australian government and the State of California in the US.
The switch to the new lightbulbs is estimated to mean a reduction in carbon emissions by about 20 million tonnes per year. Not only is this good news for the environment, but it makes good economic sense to make this switch. Indeed, a number of developing countries made this decision years ago, purely based on economic factors.
As I have written before, energy efficient lightbulbs make real monetary savings - this quite surprised me in fact. Each bulb saves about £7 per year on an average usage. Multiply this by the number of bulbs in your home (5 in my small apartment) and you have a noticeable saving (at least its noticeable if you are a student like me).
The construction of power stations, wind farms, hydro-electric dams etc is very costly, and even in a country where utilities have been privatised, the construction of these costs the tax payer a lot of money in grants. By reducing our energy demand this tax revenue can be spent on other things. Essentially carbon emissions represent inefficiency, which costs money and these costs are passed onto consumers, hopefully some of the economic benefits of the lightbulb switch should be passed onto the consumer as well. Hmmm?
Finally, by becoming the market leaders in this sort of energy efficient tchnology our economy can be strengthened. When other countries follow suit where will they buy their stocks from? Where will they get the expertise to develop energy efficient bulbs? From companies that have invested in developing and marketing these bulbs. German and Japanese industry has benefited from this philosophy for many years now.
There will be problems with this change over, the cost of switching manufacture over to the lightbulbs is likely to cancel out the benefit of lower electricity bills. However, with more investment and increased demand, the price of these bulbs should come down quickly. In fact some supermarkets already sell these bulbs for as little as 49p. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, pointed out that many energy efficient lightbulbs are somewhat dimmer than incandescent ones. This is true, but now that companies will be forced to invest in these bulbs this problem should be ironed out soon. In fact, some bulbs are already as bright as the old ones.
Hopefully this is a decision that both environmentalists and capitalists can harness effectively.
I'm off to build a lightbulb factory (an eco-factory of course, built entirely from recycled garbage).
Apparently this follows similar decisions by the Australian government and the State of California in the US.
The switch to the new lightbulbs is estimated to mean a reduction in carbon emissions by about 20 million tonnes per year. Not only is this good news for the environment, but it makes good economic sense to make this switch. Indeed, a number of developing countries made this decision years ago, purely based on economic factors.
As I have written before, energy efficient lightbulbs make real monetary savings - this quite surprised me in fact. Each bulb saves about £7 per year on an average usage. Multiply this by the number of bulbs in your home (5 in my small apartment) and you have a noticeable saving (at least its noticeable if you are a student like me).
The construction of power stations, wind farms, hydro-electric dams etc is very costly, and even in a country where utilities have been privatised, the construction of these costs the tax payer a lot of money in grants. By reducing our energy demand this tax revenue can be spent on other things. Essentially carbon emissions represent inefficiency, which costs money and these costs are passed onto consumers, hopefully some of the economic benefits of the lightbulb switch should be passed onto the consumer as well. Hmmm?
Finally, by becoming the market leaders in this sort of energy efficient tchnology our economy can be strengthened. When other countries follow suit where will they buy their stocks from? Where will they get the expertise to develop energy efficient bulbs? From companies that have invested in developing and marketing these bulbs. German and Japanese industry has benefited from this philosophy for many years now.
There will be problems with this change over, the cost of switching manufacture over to the lightbulbs is likely to cancel out the benefit of lower electricity bills. However, with more investment and increased demand, the price of these bulbs should come down quickly. In fact some supermarkets already sell these bulbs for as little as 49p. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, pointed out that many energy efficient lightbulbs are somewhat dimmer than incandescent ones. This is true, but now that companies will be forced to invest in these bulbs this problem should be ironed out soon. In fact, some bulbs are already as bright as the old ones.
Hopefully this is a decision that both environmentalists and capitalists can harness effectively.
I'm off to build a lightbulb factory (an eco-factory of course, built entirely from recycled garbage).
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