Green Australians to see the light

[Guest guest]

Q How many Australians does it take to change a lightbulb? A Every single one of them. At least it will do if the Government gets its way and bans the use of traditional incandescent bulbs in the next three years. A change to energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs would reduce the country’s carbon emissions by about four million tonnes by 2015, according to Malcolm Turnbull, the Environment Minister. “Electric lighting is a vital part of our lives, but it is still very inefficient,” he said. “We have been using incandescent light bulbs for 125 years and up to 90 per cent of the energy each light bulb uses is wasted, mainly as heat.” He said that the Government would force people to switch to fluorescent bulbs by 2010 by setting new energy-efficiency standards that the old-style bulbs would be unable to meet. Eventually, they would be withdrawn

from sale. Although more efficient than traditional bulbs, fluorescent bulbs are about ten times more expensive. John Howard, the Prime Minister, said: “They'll be a bit dearer to start off with but over time they'll be less expensive and last four to ten times longer.” While Australia would be the first nation to be free of incandescent bulbs, Californian legislators last month proposed banning traditional bulbs by 2012. The standard incandescent light bulb, developed for the mass market in the late 19th century, uses a metal filament, glowing white-hot in a vacuum. It wastes up to 95 per cent of the energy it uses — with light emitted only as a byproduct of its heat. In the fluorescent bulbs, a tiny amount of mercury vapour is sealed inside a glass tube. Electricity inside the tube causes the mercury to emit invisible ultraviolet light. A fluorescent coating on the tube’s insides absorbs the photons and reemits them as visible

light. They use about 80 per cent less electricity than a standard bulb but equal the illumination. Australia emitted about 564 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2004. The reduction of 4 million tonnes represents a drop of about 1 per cent. The Opposition Labor Party, which is seeking to outperform the Howard Government on greenhouse policies before this year’s general election, supported the change. The WWF said that people would find the new bulbs more expensive, but would recoup their money in savings on the costs of electricity. Charles Stevens, its Australian spokesman, said: “We think it’s a great idea. This is a useful first step in transforming to an energy-efficient world, but it is a small first step.” Peter H

 

Inbox full of unwanted email? Get leading protection and 1GB storage with All New Mail.