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All about conservation, ecology, the environment, climate change, global warming, earth- watch, and new technologies etc.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Will incandescent bulbs go away?

Image showing both a fluorescent and an incand...Image via Wikipedia











Will Incandescent Bulbs Go Away?






The “last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent bulbs in the United States” is set to close later this month. Most incandescent bulbs will be banned from sale in the US in 2014, and many other countries have enacted similar bans on incandescent bulbs within the next few years, as well. But while the deadline has been set, and the manufacture of incandescent bulbs is set to end in a couple of years, there is a growing market for specialty incandescent bulbs.



Against all reason though, bare filament light bulbs are spreading as a trendy fashion in restaurants, as was noted in the New York Times earlier this summer:



…they hover in groups of two and three. …they snake through the cafe, restaurant and patio. …they cluster near the entrance as an enticement.



They are not the latest cliques of beautiful people, but something quite old and plain: exposed-filament bulbs, energy-guzzling reproductions of Thomas Alva Edison’s first light bulb. And despite the escalating push to go green and switch to compact fluorescents — or perhaps because of it — their antique glow has spread like a power surge.



Incandescent bulbs are like fireplaces, a vestigial remnant from an earlier time. They can be appealing, certainly. For some they are a symbol of luxury, but they are wildly less efficient than contemporary alternatives. While they may contribute to the ambience of a space, their operating costs are huge, and much of the desired effect can be obtained from other sources, without resorting to the use of a lapsed technology.



If you are looking for a warm, romantic, old-fashioned light source, you might consider the suggestion of one enlightened restaurant owner: “Just light real candles, you know?”


http://ecospree.com/

http://ecospree.comwill-incadescent-bulbs-go-away/

Acknowledgements: Ecospree.com/Philip Profrock


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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Cut priced eco bulbs to be axed in the UK - govt to pull the plug on subsidies...

Compact fluorescent light bulbImage via Wikipedia
From the UK this week:  Eco bulb subsidies to be scrapped.


Cut-price eco bulbs axed: Cost will soar as ministers pull the plug on subsidies



Eco bulbs will not be subsidised because energy firms will be forced to plough cash into other environmentally-friendly projects



Energy-saving lightbulbs could treble in price as ministers order energy suppliers to stop subsidising them.

At the moment, power companies discount compact fluorescent bulbs as part of measures to meet greenhouse gas targets.

But Chris Huhne, minister for climate change, has told electricity and gas firms to stop the promotions in supermarkets and DIY chains - and invest more money in home insulation instead.

Some industry experts have welcomed the change. But others warn that these rules will lead to price rises.

Energy-saving bulbs are sold for as little as 33p each in supermarkets. The end of subsidises means they could cost £1 or more.



Under the Government's Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, the biggest energy supplies must help customers cut their fuel bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The companies have met their targets by promoting energy-saving bulbs - and have given away around 230million in the last few years.

At the start of last year, ministers banned light bulb mail-outs. But power companies have continued subsidise the cost of bulbs in supermarkets and DIY stores.

In the last three months alone, eight million of the bulbs were sold by chain stores under the subsidy scheme.

But these subsidises will be scrapped when the CERT scheme is extended from March 2011 to the end of 2012, Mr Huhne explained.

Suppliers will be forced to spend the money promoting loft, cavity wall and solid wall insulation instead.

Most householders could save around £550 a year by insulating their homes, the minister added.





Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1290934/Cost-eco-lightbulbs-treble-energy-suppliers-ordered-scrap-subsidies.html#ixzz11v5faedP

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