Let there be energy-efficient, environment-friendly light

Kill the incandescent light bulb. That proposal by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine has sparked a current of controversy. The lawmaker from California, USA wanted the golden state to be the first to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs by 2012. Instead of the energy-intensive incandescents, Levine is urging consumers to save energy and invest in a bright future by switching to energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. The energetic Levine has a brilliant name for his measure: "How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb Act."

The answer to that question is a majority in California, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who shares a bright trick or two on how to cut down on energy consumption at home, to wit: "I unscrew the light bulbs in my house if I see the kids leaving the lights on in their room. Everytime they leave the lights on, one more light bulb goes. And eventually, within a week, they end up in a dark room, and they stay there for a long time, may I remind you. Now, they don’t ever leave the lights on anymore."

The Schwarzenegger kids must have learned their lesson well as they finally saw the light.

But there’s a dark side to this issue. Notes Levine, "When consumers are standing in a store and they’re confronted with two different products, they will generally opt for the one that is cheaper and one they’ve traditionally bought. The problem is, the one they think is cheaper is only cheap at that moment in time. The other one is cheaper over the long run."

He goes on to enlighten consumers: Incandescent light bulbs (yes, the traditional one invented by Thomas Alva Edison) cost much less but use much more electricity than fluorescent bulbs. The most energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs use 75 percent less electricity than incandescents. They may cost a lot more, but they last 10 times longer. That means more savings and less pollution from the dreaded smog and greenhouse gases emitted by power plants.

Ever a hot topic, global warming is again in the spotlight, what with movies like Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Truth is, last year, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a landmark bill that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 25 percent by 2020.

To add to this bright picture, retail giant Wal-Mart decided to go green and pull out all the stops in pushing for compact fluorescent bulbs in its stores. Its big target: to sell 100 million fluorescent bulbs by 2008.

The future looks bright for Californians if they switched completely to compact fluorescent bulbs. According to California Energy Commisioner Arthur Rosenfeld, doing so would save as much carbon dioxide (about 1.8 million metric tons per year) as shutting down one or two gas-fired power plants or removing 400,000 cars from the streets of California.

According to Levine, replacing even just one 75-watt incandescent light bulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent bulb would prevent 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide (a major culprit responsible for global warming) from being pumped into the atmosphere by electric plants.

Clearly, using light-energy light bulbs is the first step to curbing pollution and saving this planet for future generations.

Here at home, we can make that first step by finding creative ways to reduce the national energy bill as oil and coal price increases continue to impact the cost of electricity generation, according to Menardo Mateo, president and CEO of Philips Electronics and Lighting, Inc. With bright hopes for the future, Mateo notes, "The widespread use of energy-efficient lighting is a fast, easy, and inexpensive way for countries to mitigate the effects of rising oil and coal prices and reduce energy expenses."

According to the 2004 Household Energy Consumption Survey results released in August 2005, 92.1 percent of the 14.6 million Filipino households named lighting as their main reason for energy usage.

Mateo has this bright tip to share, "By replacing standard incandescent lamps with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and the regular T12 fluorescent lamps with new T8 lamps, homeowners and buildings can reduce the load on the national grid substantially and therefore lessen oil and coal consumption."

These lamps provide the same light levels and, what’s more, last six to 10 times longer. Which means users also save operating and maintenance costs without sacrificing light output. In addition, CFLs put only a fraction of the heat from incandescent bulbs, allowing even greater summertime energy savings in buildings with air-conditioning.

According to the Philippine Energy Plan 2005, the system peak demand for the country is expected to increase from 9,827MW in 2005 to 14,265MW in 2010 and 19,064MW in 2014.

However, according to Philips research, if one million homes were to swap even just one standard 60W incandescent lamp for one Philips Essential 11W energy saver CFL, overall electricity demand would drop by 38MW. Says Mateo, "Given that the Philippines has more than 14 million households, the change over to CFL has a potential of saving 532MW of capacity. This can be implemented in a matter of months instead of waiting for new power plants that could take decades to build, amid all kinds of obstacles and opposition."

Translating that to cold cash, a household that converts from an ordinary incandescent lamp to a Philips energy-saving CFL and uses it for five hours a day can save up to P700 annually (based on P8.83 kw/h) during the life of the lamp.

Certainly, energy efficiency is the most practical and least expensive solution to the country’s power crunch.

"Through simple, community-level action, enormous savings in fuel imports and production costs are possible with reduced emissions and pollution adding to the benefits. The challenge is for governments, electricity supply companies, and lighting manufacturers to work together to educate the public and devise schemes that encourage the use of energy-efficient lighting in homes and offices," Mateo stresses.

Power companies in India, Australia, the US, and the Netherlands, among other countries, are enjoying light moments, having successfully encouraged consumers to adopt CFLs through subsidized lamp sales. "These initiatives have helped consumers to reduce their electricity bills, boosted the ability of utility companies to meet electricity demands and fuel economic growth," Mateo asserts.

Ban incandescents and switch to fluorescents? Sounds like a bright idea, don’t you think?

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