"Eeyore"

wrote in message
...


Serge Auckland wrote:

Quite apart from the problems of
disposing of old CFLs, I question the
whole
principle of Low Energy lighting. If
you have a conventional bulb, much of
the energy output is in the form of
heat, which will help heat the room,
and
consequently will reduce the need for
other heating, central or otherwise.

That's sort of fine if you want extra
heat. Often as not you don't.

The other downside of your idea is
that electricity is more costly than
other
heat sources (often by a large
amount).

No, that's no excuse for low
efficiency lighting.

Graham

While I generally agree with your
comment above, there is still a lot of
hype on this topic because people (an
especially politicians) fail to consider
the total energy equation. This is
especially true here in the U.S. where
ethanol is a big topic. The public does
not realize that the savings are
relatively small. The BTU content/unit
volume is about 70% of gasoline (lower
miles/gallon), it takes a lot of energy
to make it (fertilizer, fuel for
planting, cultivating, harvesting,
distilling), the diversion of corn to
ethanol is driving up prices for animal
feed and therefore milk and meat, and if
all corn was turned into ethanol you may
divert 3% of the total energy use in
this country. If it was not subsidized
by the taxpayers, no one would use it.
The 3% number is higher if you only
consider the energy from oil, but we are
looking for solutions for the CO2
problem and you have to count all fossil
fuels including natural gas and coal.
Where are we going to get the holy grail
of hydrogen for our cars? Yes, it takes
energy to create it. Solar cells for
home use are another myth. It takes more
energy to produce the solar panels,
batteries, and all of the auxiliary
equipment than the system will ever
generate. Large scale applications in
areas with high solar illumination have
a much better equation. I could go on,
but you get the idea.

The switch to more efficient lighting is
a good conversation measure, but the
energy production area is where the hype
sets in. In general energy use is
directly proportional to population and
standard of living. The best way to save
energy to reduce one or both of those.
Alternatively we could create the
necessary energy form nuclear power
which has essentially zero carbon
emissions.

David