According to Environment Minister John Baird this morning, Canada will enact a plan to completely ban incandescent light bulbs within 3-5 years. This follows the footsteps of California and Australia.
While it could be said that there are some environmental and financial benefits to consumers on banning these bulbs, it's what they are NOT telling you that makes this plan completely irrelevant.
The office of the Environment minister says that these bulbs are inefficient, and that 90-95% of the energy used in incandescent bulbs are emitted as heat, rather than light, thereby wasting electricity, and costing consumers money.
John Baird says consumers who switch to energy efficient fluorescent lights will help clean up the environment, and will save about $50 a year on their electricity bills.
And this is all true. The fact that fluorescent lights are more efficient is hardly a new revelation.
So how could banning incandescent bulbs possibly be bad, you ask?
What the Minister is NOT telling you is that fluorescent lights are harder to manufacture. Instead of using a normal filament to emit light, fluorescent bulbs contain argon or neon gasses. These gasses contain mercury vapour, which become excited when hit by electricity, which creates a plasma that emits ultra violet light. Then, the ultra violet light causes a phosphor to fluoresce, and Presto! Instant light.
One would be relatively safe to assume that a product which is difficult to produce (or at least more difficult than a typical light bulb) will actually pollute MORE during the manufacturing process. Also, as you probably have guessed, argon and neon gasses are not without their own environmental impact. These bulbs are not safe to toss into the trash, as you would with a standard light bulb. In fact, most fluorescent bulbs say right on the packaging that they should be disposed of at a proper facility equipped to handle such an item. And, as we all know, most people will simply throw the bulb in the trash when they have expired.
In addition to this, there is the matter of the actually efficiency of the bulb AFTER it has been manufactured. While light bulbs which emit a significant amount of heat may not be a good thing for places such as California or Australia, it IS a good thing for Canadians. We live in a country which typically requires our homes to be heated 70% of the year. Not only in winter, but often during summer nights depending on where you live. Incandescent light bulbs help us maintain a comfortable temperature in our home. Any savings Canadians realise on their electricity bills, will automatically be transferred to our heating bills. And of course, lets not forget that fluorescent bulbs are more expensive to purchase.
So what will be the ultimate outcome of this light bulb ban? Increased pollution during manufacturing of the fluorescent bulbs, increased costs to buy bulbs, and the potential to harm our environment even more during the disposal process.
Bravo John Baird! It looks like you have definitely thought this plan through.
Rainn
