Will CFLs save the planet?

Is it right to push everyone to switch to CFLs to fight climate change?

Australian announced in February 2007 that it would completely phase out incandescent light bulbs by 2010, in order to encourage people to switch to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) or other more energy efficient light bulbs. My home province of Ontario followed suit in April 2007, although their ban doesn't come into effect until 2012. And jurisdiction after jurisdiction has been announcing similar phase outs, with Thomas Edison's famous invention slated to become little more than a museum piece by about 2015.

Let's face it, the incandescent light is pretty inefficient - converting only about 3% of its electrical energy into light - while a CFL can do about three times better at up to 11% efficient. An LED light is even better, at up to 22% efficiency, although the price of LED lights, so far at least, will turn most cost-conscious consumers away (in spite of the fact that the LED light will probably pay for itself within 4-5 years if placed in a high-use area). 

Presumably, a ban on incandescents will drive electrical usage down, which will reduce our dependence on dirty sources of electricity such as coal, natural gas, and nuclear power. The ban in Australia appears particularly targeted at coal, since that's where most of Australia's electricity comes from, and coal, being a huge source of human-created CO2, is one of the main contributors to climate change.

But is banning CFLs really going to put a dent in climate change? How much of your electrical energy use comes from lighting? And will we suffer from the Jevons paradox, where the savings from any increase in efficiency (in this case, energy efficiency) are offset by the human tendency to use more of something that costs less to use?

Is it even the right approach? For instance, my furnace room has a 40 watt incandescent light in it that I turn on about once a week for about two minutes - a total of less than two hours of use, and less than 0.07 kilowatt hours (or less than a penny of electricity) a year. But if that bulb burns out, does it really make sense to replace it with a CFL? Definitely not - according to my CFL savings calculator, replacing this bulb with a CFL results in a payback period of 489 years, and I'd be better off putting the extra money into some other energy saving purchase.

What about adding a prohibitively steep tax on incandescent lights so that, while perhaps still not quite as expensive as CFLs, theyare costly enough to discourage people from buying them except where a CFL doesn't really make sense?

And what about so-called carbon-offsetting programs that allow people in wealthy countries to pay a sin tax on their carbon emissions, by paying for non-profit groups to distribute free CFLs in developing countries? I remember reading one follow-up study that found most of these had been thrown out within a year (and probably not disposed of safely - remember, these things contain trace amounts of mercury).

I admit, I am personally in favor of a ban in spite of my furnace-room reservations. What do you think?

• Does the ban make sense?
• Will it really cut electricity use in a significant way?
• Will that really have much of an impact on climate change?
• Do you have a better idea?

Let us know what you think - you can create your own page and it will be linked from this page, and you can comment on what others say - and rate their ideas too!

Do you think CFLs can really fight climate change?

The move to ban incandescent light sales has spread to many countries over the past few years. How much of a difference do you think that will make to overall CO2 emissions? If you were in charge, what would your ideas be to cut our dependence on fossil fuels? What are you doing yourself to cut your energy use? Share your thoughts.

Click on any blurbs below that interest you. Each contributor has their own page for their ideas, which you can comment on and give a rating to.

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