Friday February 10, 2006

Lighter on the environment

peakoil.com -> hindustantimes.com :

Take the energy problem. Solutions focus on redesigning the automobile, boosting the use of nuclear and other clean energy and so on. But we could make a simpler start, says Matt Prescott, a British environmental scientist. The cheapest way for developing countries to make optimum use of limited energy supplies, and for developed countries to achieve cuts in their carbon dioxide emissions, says Prescott, is to augment energy efficiency. As a first step, he suggests a complete ban on the traditional light bulb - a major source of waste in energy consumption. This could encourage people to 'aim higher' in increasing efficiency in everything from hot water systems to home insulation.

After all, it is domestic energy consumption that causes more than 25% of the global GHG emission of carbon, sulphur and nitrogen dioxide. Recent research indicates that the wider use of 'green lighting' can cut this dramatically. Compact fluorescent light bulbs, for instance, use only about a quarter of the energy of incandescent bulbs to produce the same number or more lumens. That they also last about ten times longer than regular bulbs is a bonus. Compact fluorescents may be more expensive initially, but the long-term savings would surely offset this. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) also offer an excellent alternative to the light bulb. The public should also be made aware of concepts like 'task lighting': concentrating light only where it's needed, using lower watt bulbs, and avoiding waste of energy.

See also :

1. LED Lighting (peakoil.com thread)
2. The Earth at Night (nasa.gov)

(2006-02-10 12:53:43 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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