The light is fading on one of the great inventions of the 19th century, the incandescent bulb with its white-hot filament that sheds far more heat than light.
The federal government has announced a plan to phase out inefficient lightbulbs by 2012 to cut energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn says the ban will eliminate more than six million tonnes in greenhouse pollution annually.
“Using more energy-efficient lightbulbs is a great example of a concrete action Canadians can take at home to reduce harmful greenhouse emissions and save energy,” said Environment Minister John Baird.
The ban on lightbulbs will not bring a major reduction Canada’s total emissions – probably less than one per cent – but is still seen as significant because it signals a willingness by the government to impose binding regulations rather than relying on voluntary efforts to cut emissions.
Industries with large greenhouse gas emissions are said to be unhappy that the government is asking them to bear the burden of fighting climate change without aiming at consumers who account for the other half of Canada’s emissions. The move to ban inefficient lightbulbs could go some way to address that concern.
Since fluorescent lights are more expensive than the conventional type, consumers will be paying a higher initial cost although they will make it up in reduced electricity costs over the longer term.
Ottawa’s move is part of a major continuing effort by the Conservative government to position itself as environmentally progressive, despite its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol.
The ban is virtually cost-free for the government, and the political path has already been broken by Australia, which announced a phase-out earlier this year. Like dominoes, Nunavut, Ontario, California and now Canada have taken similar measures.
It may be an indication of the strong support for environmental policies that the announcement was received with virtually no objections, even though it represents a clear intervention in the marketplace.
“Switching to energy-efficient lightbulbs is the first choice that we can make in becoming energy-efficient consumers,” said Stuart Hickox, executive director of Project Porchlight, which promotes efficient lighting.
B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner did voice worries about the risk posed by toxic mercury contained in fluorescent lights. Penner has asked his staff for an analysis of what impact the additional mercury will have in waste management.
Harry Taylor, senior vice-president of Home Depot Canada, the largest retailer of lights in Canada, said his company is working on a plan to safely recycle fluorescents together with Phillips Lighting.
Taylor said Home Depot will stop selling incandescent bulbs by 2011 and probably earlier.
In his book Smart Power, energy-efficiency expert William Kemp says a compact fluorescent light uses less than a quarter the energy of an equivalent incandescent bulb, and lasts 10 times as long.
Kemp says the compact’s higher price – about $3 compared with 40 cents for an old-fashioned bulb that sheds equivalent light – is outweighed by lower electricity costs over the seven-year life of a fluorescent bulb.
