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Campaign Archive: (Feb 05 to present)
Campaign Goals: 1. Create a deadline for action Ban the sale of incandescents by specific dates Ban 60W + 100W incandescents first (bayonet + screw) Ban other incandescent designs later 2. Remove the price advantage of incandescents Increase the cost of incandescent light bulbs Reduce the sales tax (VAT) on CFLs from 17.5% to 5% 3. Help the poor Help the poor to replace their incandescents Help the poor to save money on their energy bills 4. Encourage responsible recycling Encourage the responsible recycling of CFLs Encourage fair + adequate funding for recycling Encourage discussions amongst recycling stakeholders 5. Encourage + strengthen supporting legislation Include light bulbs in the EU's Eco Directive Explain the pros + cons of the EU's RoHS Directive 6. Propose appriopriate exemptions Make the case for appropriate medical and specialist exemptions 7. Encourage continued innovation Propose that technology neutral "watts per lumen" criteria should be included in ban legislation Propose "watts per lumen per m2" as further criteria Highlight promising technologies as they emerge 8. Encourage energy efficiency and conservation Explain the benefits of greater energy efficiency Explain the benefits of turning things off Accelerate the uptake of available technologies 9. Use LEDs to set energy performance standards LEDs offer a 90% energy saving CFLs offer a 65-80% energy saving High efficiency incandescents offer a 25% saving Incandescents offer 0% energy saving Banning incandescent light bulbs would... Save 2 to 5 Million tonnes of CO2 per year in the UK Save 23 to 53 Million tonnes of CO2 per year in the EU Global Energy Use: Thanks to...OilPrice.com Links: BBC "Green Room" 3 Feb 06 Light bulbs: Not such a bright idea Comments BBC "Green Room" 21 April 06 Shedding light on call to ban bulb Comments BBC "Green Room" 20 Oct 06 Where have all the leaders gone? Comments BBC article 29 Jun 06 Lighting the key to energy saving IEA : Lights Labour Lost report BBC article 2 Nov 06 Bulbs must be efficient by 2009 BBC "Green Room" 19 Jan 07 The need for ambition + imagination Stern Review: Summary Guardian article 1 Feb 07 Should I replace incandescents now? Worldwatch: Effects of WEEE Directive BBC article 31 Jan 07 Plan to ban light bulbs... in California Nine MSN article 20 Feb 07 Plan to ban light bulbs... in Australia BBC article 20 Feb 07 Australia pulls plug on old bulbs Courier Mail article 21 Feb 07 See the light Turnbull EurActiv article 21 Feb 07 How many EU members does it take to change a light bulb? Guardian article 22 Feb 07 Should we ban these bulbs? Scotsman article 24 Feb 07 How many light bulbs does it take to change the world? Daily Mail article 10 Mar 07 EU switches off our old light bulbs BBC "Green Room" 16 July 07 Sex sells, but at what cost? The Guardian article 27 Sept 07 UK to phase out 150W, 100W + 60W bulbs The Guardian article 27 Sept 07 Ban The Bulb? International Light Bulb Campaigns 18 Seconds (US) Greenpeace India : BTB petition (India) www.banthebulb.co.uk (UK: unaffiliated) Campaigns One Watt Initiative (IEA) One Billion Bulbs (US) Big Green Switch (UK) Eco Portal Eco Earth Info (US) References Homestayfinder: How CFLs work MPs' Letters: EU light bulb rules Wikipedia: Ozone Depletion EU: Kyoto Protocol Lighting Industry Federation >LIF: Lamp Guide 2001 pdf UK Climate Change Programme >UK CCP: Review pdf UK Market Transformation Programme ECCP Report 2001 pdf European Lamp Companies Federation DTI: WEEE Directive Energy Saving Trust GE: Soft White Dimmable CFLs Cubans + Jamaicans hand out free CFLs ELCFED FAQs Lighting Advice Energy Saving Trust Lighting Bulb ratings Lighting choices Low energy fittings Save Your 20% Customer Utility Services Light bulb suppliers lightbulbs.co.uk Just LED Direct Trade Supplies Light Rabbit Light Rabbit : Commercial AVR LED Track Lighting Bulb Buddy Energy Bulb Synergy Lighting USA (USA) Express Light Bulbs LED Light Bulbs LED Lighting Supplier eco LED Light E-Leds EcoPal (Ireland) LED Lights LED Tape Eco St LED Eco Lights Light Bulb Planet Green Led LineLite First Light Direct Lamps On Line UltraLEDS (UK) LiteBulbs Bright Green Technology (signs) Eco Friendly Light Bulbs Go Green Lights (UK) Energy Saving World (UK) Light Bulbs Direct (UK) Better Generation (UK) Efficient Light (UK) Ultima (UK) Megaman (UK) Amazon.Com (US) The Bulbman (US) LED Online [LEDs] (UK) OptoSource [LEDs] (UK) CyberLux [LEDs] (US) Androv Medical (UK) BestBulb (UK) The Light Bulb (UK) Solar Solar Power Centre (UK) Intelligent Energy Solutions (UK) Solar Insiders (UK) Solar Gadget Store (UK) Select Solar Panels (UK) Energy Saving Advice Conserve Energy (UK) Intelligent Energy Solutions (UK) Solar Security Solar Security Solutions (UK) Energy Company Advice Good Energy Shop (UK) Home Energy Generation / Storage Cyber Energy (UK) Low carbon technology sites The Solar Centre (UK) Price comparison sites Business Electricity Prices (UK) Business Gas Prices (UK) USwitch: Business Energy (UK) Home Advisory Service (UK) UK Power (UK) Business Gas (UK) Business Electricity (UK) Solar Price Comparison Services Talk Solar Panels (UK) Talk Solar Boilers (UK) Solar Quote Provider (UK) Solar Lighting Lux Outdoor Ligting (UK) The Eco Experts (UK) http://www.theecoexperts.co.uk Light bulb history An overview 1809 Humphrey Davy (Arc lamp) 1820 Warren De la Rue (vacuum + wire) 1879 Edison and Swan (carbon + cotton) 1880 Edison (carbon + bamboo) 1898 Karl Auer (osmium) 1903 Siemens/Halske (tantalum) 1906 to 10 GEC/William Coolidge (tungsten) Fluorescent light and lamp history 1857 Becquerel (fluorescence) 1901 Cooper Hewitt (mercury vapour lamp) 1934 Germer (high pressure lamp) 1970s Anderson + Hollister (electrodeless) 1976 Edward Hammer (spiral lamp) Mercury + Fluorescent Lights Efficiency Vermont Michigan Dept. of Env. Quality Energy Efficiency Advice EU Energy Label Refrigeration Laundry Dishwashers Boilers Insulation + Windows Find recommended products (UK) Generate your own energy General advice Solar Photovoltaics Solar water heating Heat pumps Small scale wind Small scale hydro Biomass Press coverage The Guardian 7 Dec 05 BBC News Online 'Green Room' 3 Feb 06 BBC Radio 4 'Broadcasting House' 5 Feb 06 Austrian Broadcasting Corp. 7 Feb 06 BBC Radio Wales 8 Feb 06 BBC News Online 8 Feb 06 The Hindustan Times editorial The Guardian "Campaign O.T.W. " 21 Feb 06 BBC Radio Essex 22 Feb 06 Interesting energy ideas... Option 10 (UK) Light Up The World (Can) TVEC.org (UK) Downshifting Path (UK) Cent. for Alt. Tech. (Wales) Patio Heaters Are Evil (UK) NGOs Friends of the Earth Greenpeace International Natural Resources Defense Council New Economics Foundation WWF Renewable Energy Businesses Select Solar Solar Century Climate Change Carbon Trust Climate Stability 2005 DEFRA Hadley Centre IPCC Met Office Pew Centre Tyndall Centre UK Energy Research Centre UNFCCC Reports National Audit Office > report Environmental Blogs Alternative Energy Blog Dangerousmeta! Earth Blog Earth Info Energy: Action Envirotech George Monbiot Greenpeace Weblog Gristmill Mark Lynas Meta Efficient One Change Real Climate Rebecca Blood Sierra Club Scoop World Changing Ethical Expert © matt prescott
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Friday, September 23, 2016Guest Blog: Solar Lighting and LEDs... a virtuous circle
Recent studies
by lab researcher Evan Mills (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) suggests
that solar-LED lighting will have a momentous impact on the employment rates of
third world countries. His research saw the very first global analysis of how a
transition to solar-LED lighting will affect employment. The results? By replacing
kerosene and other fuel-based lighting, analysis shows that there’s potential
to create two million new jobs.
To
demonstrate how powerful this discovery is and to put substance behind the
person and organisation who has uncovered it; 13 Nobel prizes are associated
with the Berkeley Lab, 17 lab scientists are members of the National Academy of
Sciences (NAS), 13 Berkeley scientists have won the National Medal of Science,
18 engineers have been elected into the National Academy of Engineering and an
extra three scientists have been elected into the Institute of Medicine. This
was no flash-in-the-pan study conducted by a novice.
There’s
approximately 150,000 fuel-based lighting jobs. Yet many of these jobs,
particularly in impoverished areas, fail to adhere to safety regulations and
offer little to no basic human rights for their workers. A surge in Solar-LED
innovation, and its production, will not only ensure more jobs are created but
these destitute working environments will significantly improve; as conditions become
legal, healthy and stable.
There are so
many benefits attached to this finding. New jobs, better working conditions,
safer living conditions, cost reductions, a healthier planet and the continued
development and investment in LED-Solar technology. With all of this in mind,
surely a study of this magnitude should ignite the thinking-caps of decision
makers? If they need reminding of what this can do, then perhaps they should
read on.
Health Benefits To
Existing Off-Grid Communities
It’s hard
for people living in the western world to fathom life without electricity. With
electricity, comes the ability to provide artificial light. So what happens if
this can’t be achieved? Off-grid locations such as sub-Saharan Africa have been
using fuel-based lighting to counteract their inaccessibility to light. The use
of fuel-based lighting may serve a momentary fix but it comes with a staggering
amount of negatives.
 Easy accessibility means kerosene lamps continue to be the most popular alternative for off-grid locations. However, this doesn’t mean that they’re adequate, in fact they are quite the opposite, because kerosene lamps and similar lighting fuels contribute to more than 1.5 million deaths per year, causing anything from lung disease and respiratory problems to eye related deficiencies.
But what
other choice do people living in poverty have? For some locations in
Sub-Saharan Africa, a full power outage increases the probability of rape by
20%. This fear alone is enough for people, mainly women, to adopt a kerosene
lamp as their only source of light. In recent years’ design teams have come
together to present a safer and more cost-effective alternative, typically
involving LED-Solar technology. Using solar to soak up sunlight during the day
provides people with access to LED light at night – saving lives, improving
living conditions, reducing costs and being kinder to the environment. What’s
not to embrace and push forward as an established scheme?
In 2014
Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura were awarded with a Nobel Prize
in Physics for the invention of ‘the greatest benefit to mankind’, for their
affordable solar-LED lights, intended to be used by some of the world’s poorest
people without electricity. This inroad not only advances the relationship
between solar and LED technology but it shapes a healthier future for those
that desperately need it.
SunnyMoney
headed by SolarAid, is the largest solar light distributor in Africa. They have
sold over 1 ½ million solar lights, with 90% of its customers living below the
poverty line and thought to be surviving on the equivalent of 94 pence a day.
Their ambition, like many others, is to eradicate the use of harmful kerosene
lamps from Africa. In the past they have set a target to do this by 2020 but
whether this prediction is on track remains to be seen.
Financially,
the switch from kerosene to solar would save a family around £52.60 in reduced
lighting costs. It would also mean that children would be able to extend their
homework hours and households could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 300kg per
year, including other short-lived climate pollutants too.
Even though
it doesn’t get much more prestigious than a Nobel Prize, will this type of
random recognition for innovation be enough? Despite the endorsement of people
like Richard Branson, will the likes of SolarAid be able to improve living
conditions, save money and initiate an eco-friendlier planet? These are all
questions that remain unanswered.
It’s
examples like the habitants of off-grid Sub Saharan Africa, or people living in
warzones or those dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters, which
arguably demonstrates the very best usage of the Solar-LED combination. Solar
and LED technology has been standing alone for a while now and as independent
entities they have come a very long way. However, bringing the two together to
create an effective combination is less renown. How about we change this and
what better way to start than by improving lives?
So What Can We Do To
Support This?
As human
beings we should all feel compelled to support the needs of those living in
poverty. Many of us contribute to charity organisations who assist with a whole
host of humanitarian aid projects across the world. And although this is
undoubtedly a great thing to do, there should also be a mass drive in awareness
to specific products and innovations that help to improve living conditions.
An awareness
to inventions like Solar-LED lights would initially have to start with the
media and the involvement of new investors, because it is they who hold the
power to influence a million minds and can whip up substantial support
overnight. All it would take is an explanation of the problem, how the product
solves this, what technology is involved, how it reforms lives and where people
can donate. If this kind of campaign was rolled out over all mainstream
channels and endorsed all over the globe by celebrities, world leaders and the
like, and it was given the same attention as the latest Nike trainers or
Beyonce album, then we might be onto something.
Knowing that
an all-encompassing drive to supply millions with these inventions, whilst also
continuing to support the development of Solar-LED technology, would go on to improve
lives on a titanic level – it begs the question, why isn’t it happening? It’s the
same argument with food and clean water. It’s estimated to cost around 22
billion pounds a year to end world hunger, which on the face of things, seems
like a lot of money. But when you put it in perspective, the US spends the
equivalent of around 557 billion pounds a year on their defence budget.
Something’s clearly wrong. It’s almost like they want people to still be dying
or suffering as a result of something that can be prevented. But I guess that’s a whole new can of worms to open.
Written by Thomas Bray (The Talem Recruitment Group) Astra Recruitment - specialists in engineering, IT and logistics sectors. Posted 3:17 AM by Matt Prescott 
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