A Little Light Music 3

U.S., E.U. push phaseout of incandescent bulbs, U.K. gets serious about carbon

The world is seeing the energy-efficient light: a U.S. coalition including Philips Lighting and the Natural Resources Defense Council will push to phase out incandescent bulbs by 2016. And following the lead of Australia and California, European Union leaders have proposed ditching the bulbs even sooner, a plan that could reduce E.U. carbon emissions up to 25 million tons a year. E.U. President Angela Merkel, who uses energy-saving bulbs at home, offered her pitch: they're "not quite bright enough, so sometimes when I'm looking for something that's dropped on the carpet I have a bit of a problem." Uh ... moving on. Yesterday, the British government proposed first-of-its-kind legislation to reduce the nation's CO2 emissions 60 percent by 2050 with a series of five-year "carbon budgets." While some wish the target were more ambitious, Prime Minister Tony Blair declared the bill -- which could become law by early next year -- a "revolutionary step" that "sets an example to the rest of the world."

source: The New York Times, Matthew L. Wald, 14 Mar 2007

source: The Independent, Stephen Castle, 10 Mar 2007

source: The Telegraph, Bruno Waterfield, 10 Mar 2007

source: The Times, Devika Bhat and Elsa McLaren, 13 Mar 2007

source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 13 Mar 2007

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  1. solarkismet Posted 3:12 am
    14 Mar 2007

    CFLs are brightThis comment is idiotic:

    "not quite bright enough, so sometimes when I'm looking for something that's dropped on the carpet I have a bit of a problem"
    It's not the CFL, it's the kind you bought.  Buy a 60 watt CFL equivalent and you'll get lower light.  Buy a 100 watt and you'll get more.  You'd have the same problem with a regular bulb.
    The cheapest CFL is probably the lowest light amount...you get what you pay attention to...

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  2. TheSSG Posted 6:09 am
    15 Mar 2007

    I find them BRIGHTERI have Compact Flourescents that are a daylight spectrum, and I love them.
    And, in the U.S. they label the CFB as "60w equivalent," "80w Equivalent," etc.
    So, maybe in Germany they don't do that, and therefor Merkel selected the wrong wattage; she got the lowest wattage in place of getting the proper lighting need.
    I have a 100w equivalent (I think a 27w CF), and it's the brightest bulb I've EVER used...of ANY kind...

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  3. ahimsa Posted 5:14 am
    20 Mar 2007

    screwing in the bulbsDoes anybody have recommendations about lighting fixtures (specifically ceiling installations on a dimmer) that can accept compact flourescents?  I'm in the final stages of a house remodel, and it seems that the lighting fixtures end of the business hasn't anticipated the move toward compact flourescents.  Yes, I agree the UK "spokesperson" (was that dim or what?) must have been in the 40 watt zone.  My experience is that with the correct wattage, compact flourescents can be very bright. I want to be able to dim them when I'm not looking for something on the carpet, reading or chopping vegetables.

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