Compact Fluorescent Lamps Ease Global Warming

Nothing is more important than calling an action to save our planet. Recent researches show that CO2 emissions are occurring at a rate doubling the capacity that the earth can assimilate. Furthermore, CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere are now 380 ppm, which is higher than any measured records over 4,000,000 years, worsening global warming.

Lighting is a basic necessity, therefore, the greater use of compact fluorescent lamps is considered to be the quickest and simplest option for reaching the state of carbon neutral. When comparing with incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent lamps deliver incredible lighting performance while consuming 80% less power, and generating 80% less CO2 as a result. Moreover, compact fluorescent lamps emit much less heat than incandescent bulbs, which contributes to the reduction in energy consumption from air-conditioning, thus, further reduces CO2 emission that causes global warming.

Note: In generating 1kWh electricity in power plant, 0.4kg of CO2 is emitted to the air.

Countries worldwide have begun to realise the need for carbon reduction, and some responded actively to combat the issue.

Ireland would stop using incandescent bulbs by January 2009, making it the first country to implement such a ban
Australia declared to phase out incandescent light bulbs gradually before 2010 and replace them with compact fluorescent lamps
Argentina has announced to replace incandescent bulbs phase by phase before 2010
United Kingdom declared to replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps in 2011
The Federal government in Canada announced to ban the sale of incandescent bulbs in 2012
California has passed the law to ban the sale of incandescent bulbs in 2012
EU has announced to ban incandescent bulbs by 2015
Activists from Japan have lobbied to ban companies producing incandescent bulbs
China government is planning to ban incandescent bulbs in the coming years
The Philippines is planning to ban incandescent bulbs by 2010

Compact Fluorescent Lamps are Energy Efficient

In lighting an incandescent bulb, about 90% energy is converted to heat instead of visible light, making it very energy inefficient. While, compact fluorescent lamp undergoes two processes in generating light: 1) electrons collide with mercury vapor particles, converting to ultra-violet radiation; 2) ultra-violet radiation projected on phosphor to generate light, the efficiencies of both processes are very high. Therefore, compact fluorescent lamps possess very high luminous efficacy.

In general, compact fluorescent lamps can generate the same level of lumen with 20% of electricity, compared to incandescent counterparts. To make it easier for the public to select the true energy efficient products, many countries and regions have implemented energy efficiency policies and introduced mandatory or voluntary labelling systems to provide information on energy consumption and efficiency to help consumers make better purchasing decisions.