EU proposes ban on light bulbs

PARIS — The European Commission is preparing a study on domestic lighting that could lead to the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs by 2009. The 120 year old filamentary bulb is likely to be replaced across most of Europe by compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) or light emitting diodes (LEDs).

The decision to ban incandescent light bulbs is part of a broader initiative, dubbed the Ecodesign directive, that aims to improve the energy efficiency of lighting equipment and other energy-consuming products. A first meeting, gathering representatives of Member States, NGOs, industry and SME associations, standardization bodies and other stakeholders, took place on Friday (June 22) in Brussels to collect their input on the measures envisaged by the Commission under the Ecodesign directive.

The Commission said that 20 product groups currently examined for potential Ecodesign requirements include street, office and domestic lighting, computers, washing machines.

The Commission said it expects that most of the studies providing the technical and economic input to set out Ecodesign requirements for fourteen product groups will be completed in 2007, allowing it to adopt concrete measures from 2008 onwards.

"The CO₂ emissions saving potential through Ecodesign requirements for energy-using products is of the order of magnitude of 180 million tons of CO₂ — the equivalent to one quarter of the reduction target of "20 percent by 2020" — out of which about 15 million tons could be achieved through switching to more efficient light bulbs in households," commented EU Energy Commissioner Piebalgs. "Ecodesign measures thus play an important role in reducing CO₂ emissions, increasing our security of supply and ensuring cost-savings to consumers."

Incandescent bulbs, invented in 1879 by Thomas Edison, work by heating an electrified wire filament in a vacuum tube. However, 95 percent of the power used by incandescent bulbs is wasted in the form of heat.

Not only do CFLs use only 20 percent of the energy that an incandescent bulb uses, but they also last longer.

Solid-state lighting in the form of LEDs is also a potential replacement. Compared to CFLs, they are largely "greener", use less energy and are mercury-free. And they would typcially last for a decade or longer.

While some American cities like Raleigh, North Carolina, are planning to cut back on energy waste by converting to more efficient lighting systems, the continent of Australia announced in February 2007 it would ban incandescent light bulbs in three years in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The country's motivation was that by banning incandescent bulbs 800,000 tons of emissions would be trimmed from Australia by 2012, claimed Malcolm Turnbull, Australian environment minister.