Provocations

Compact fluorescents vs incandescent light bulbs - an update

This is an update on a post from 2007. I think most of what I wrote and reproduced on the blog still stands. But apparently the Canadian Government doesn't think so. It has removed all the information I copied from their web site (available below). Pretty much all you find now is information extolling the virtues of compact fluorescents. Yet, still no comprehensive plan to dispose of damaged and expired CFLs (they contain toxic amounts of mercury).

A few updates and additions, courtesy of Wikipedia:

1. CFLs produce less light later in their lives than when they are new.
2. The current price of CFLs reflects the manufacturing of nearly all CFLs in China, where labour costs less.
3. Because of delays when used outside in cold weather, CFLs are not suitable for motion-activated lighting.
4. If individuals are exposed to the light produced by some single-envelope compact fluorescent lamps for long periods of time at distances of less than 20 cm, it could lead to ultraviolet exposures approaching the current workplace limit set to protect workers from skin and retinal damage.
5. In the past decade, hundreds of Chinese factory workers who manufacture CFLs for export to first world countries were being poisoned and hospitalized because of mercury exposure.
6. In some places, such as Quebec and British Columbia, central heating for homes is provided by the burning of natural gas, whereas electricity is primarily provided by hydroelectric or nuclear power. In such areas, heat generated by conventional electric light bulbs significantly reduces the release of greenhouse gases from the natural gas. Ivanco, Karney, and Waher estimate that "If all homes in Quebec were required to switch from (incandescent) bulbs to CFLs, there would be an increase of almost 220,000 tonnes in CO₂ emissions in the province, equivalent to the annual emissions from more than 40,000 automobiles."

Buy incandescents while you still can. The price is already going up as demand is exceeding supply.  Despite resolutions and requests from many representative bodies, many governments seem determined to go ahead with a ban on incandescent bulbs.

A Canadian government that claims to believe in minimal interference in our lives is telling us how we can light our homes.

An interesting video showing CFLs perfom worse than incandescents in many situations:

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HERE'S WHAT I POSTED IN 2007:

I'm up there when it comes to minimizing energy use but remain leery about the much-touted compact fluorescent. Interestingly, it took a fair bit of online research to find out the difference in colour spectra of the two. In the end, it was a Government of Canada web page that told me that the old incandescents continue to provide more accurate colour rendition.

The Colour Rendering Index (CRI) of a lamp reflects how accurately the colour of an object can be determined under a given light source. Compact fluorescent lamps have a CRI of 82 (out of 100), which is considered excellent for fluorescent sources and good for artificial light in general. Incandescent lamps have a CRI of 97. Incandescent lamps provide excellent colour rendering because of the full spectrum of colour wavelengths present in the light they produce.

and that compact fluorescents, are affected by temperature, getting less efficient as the temperature moves above or below 25°C

Low temperatures pose the greatest problems for CF lamps. Not all compact fluorescent systems are equally susceptible to low-temperature problems, but in general, as temperature drops, so does light output and efficacy. At very low temperatures (below 32°F or 0°C), lamp output can decline to one-third the rated value or less. It is important to note that some CF lamps will have to warm up a while before producing sufficient light under cold conditions, some may take several minutes to ignite, and some won't start at all.

High ambient temperatures can be produced around enclosed CF lamps in interior lighting applications. In addition, less-efficient ballasts will introduce more heat into fixture enclosures. The IES Lighting Handbook points out that a 1% loss in light output (for fluorescent lamps in general) can be expected for every 2°F (1.1°C) above the optimum ambient temperature of 76°F (25°C). Efficiency can also drop, to some degree, at these higher temperatures. Ventilated fixtures for CF lamps remove excess heat from the enclosure.

. . . and that compact fluorescents deteriorate quicker with increased frequency of on-off switching.

While incandescent lamps do not suffer any reduction in service life from switching, fluorescent lamps do to a small extent. Consequently, the costs of shortened lamp life should not be overlooked when considering CF lamps in applications requiring frequent switching.

Recycling of ballasts is another issue. Is this the old nuclear energy argument in a nutshell: great energy but serious pollution/disposal problems?

So, while I want them to succeed, I'm being very conservative in switching, presently having only two: one in our crawl-space and one providing supplementary lighting for some indoor plants.

UPDATES:

• UV light fear over 'green' bulbs
• Low-energy bulb disposal warning
• Low-energy bulbs 'worsen rashes'
• Low-energy bulbs 'cause migraine'
  
  

  High CRI LED Lighting - check it out. Time to say goodbye to CFLs. Our options are running out. 

The bottom of the oil barrel is covered in tarsand

Investments and vested interests can cloud vision. Maybe there's enough in this video to break through a few hardened hearts, hardened to the state of our planet and its people.

I think I'd have more respect for someone who said, I know it may be hurting our planet and its people but I still think it's the best thing to do. Instead most support for the tar-sands seems to rely on smoke and mirrors. Meanwhile, true to the pattern of addiction (money, oil . . . ), it is the addiction that drives. And, of course, the whole family suffers; in this case, the human family, starting with the most vulnerable:

A Blueprint for Restoring Fragile Ecosystems

By piecing together a complex ecological puzzle, biologist Willie Smits has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo, saving local orangutans - and creating a thrilling blueprint for restoring fragile ecosystems.

About Willie Smits
Willie Smits has devoted his life to saving the forest habitat of orangutans, the "thinkers of the jungle." As towns, farms and wars encroach on native forests, Smits works to save what is left.

Watch this remarkable and inspiring 20-minute video.

George Monbiot exposes Shell's flimsy alternative energy figleaf

Ever wanted to sit down with an oil CEO and ask some clear and direct questions? George Monbiot is very good at asking clear and direct questions. Bearing in mind that, at least in the USA, a CEO's first priority is to his/her shareholders, he reveals that this emperor has little more than an advertising fig leaf.

Carbon capture and storage - nowhere near application

Hope springs eternal but it seems likely we will soon find ourselves here in Canada with a return of the Harper government (with his muzzling of most of its elected representatives, "Harper government" is a fair description). In case you've forgotten, amidst the intensity of financial meltdown: these are the people who have the powder-puff approach to global warming. One of their prime strategies to reduce carbon emissions, especially from coal power plants, is what is called "carbon sequestration" - meaning capture and storage of the offending gas. Here's a recent, brief  assessment of this technique by energy expert Richard Heinberg:

[But] is carbon capture and storage (CCS) a solution? The technology exists only in the sense that its components have been demonstrated on a small scale. Deploying it broadly would require the development of an infrastructure that would require trillions of dollars of investment and decades of work. According to Vaclav Smil of the University of Manitoba, in a recent letter to Nature, we would need to handle a volume of CO2 twice as large as the world’s crude oil flows just to sequester one quarter of carbon dioxide emitted in 2005 by large stationary sources.

CCS is essentially a “delay and fail” strategy by the coal industry. By selling the idea of “clean coal,” the industry delays an energy transition away from fossil fuels, while setting itself up for an eventual failure of the entire CCS project. By the time that the failure is clear and obvious, there will be no alternative: the coal plants will have been built, the money invested. We’ll burn more coal, and to hell with the climate.

Pesticide monitoring system wins award

Tech Museum Awards: 2008 Health Award Laureate

Pesticide Action Network North America

Laureate Country: United States
Project Countries: Germany, the Philippines, South Africa, United States
Website: http://www.panna.org/drift/catcher

The Pesticide Action Network devised air-monitoring technology that allows people to detect and fight toxic pesticide exposure.

Five billion pounds of hazardous pesticides are applied to crops each year. The chemicals are a major source of toxic air pollution. As a result, farm workers and others near agricultural sites experience high rates of cancer, asthma, miscarriage, and birth defects.

The Pesticide Action Network developed the Drift Catcher, a monitoring system that allows people without scientific training to test their air for pesticides. The device captures airborne pesticides on a resin filter, which is then analyzed in a lab to determine the quantity and types of pesticides present. With these scientific results in hand, vulnerable communities have won legislation to force the use of safer pest management and reduce hazardous exposures.

Sierra Club Canadian Voters' Guide ranks parties

From the above, it's pretty clear that Canada is lagging seriously in taking action on its greenhouse gases. With an election about to be called in Canada, The Sierra Club of Canada has come out with a Sierra Club Voters' Guide on what they call The Climate Crisis Election, which includes the above image and a ranking of the contesting parties on the effectiveness of their policies to reduce greenhouse gases. 

From the CBC report:

The Green party's A- mark reflects a plan that "is very ambitious," national campaigns director Jean Langlois said at an Ottawa news conference.

The Liberals, who have made their environmental plan, dubbed the Green Shift, the centrepiece of their platform, received a B+. Their aim is to balance a carbon tax with income-tax cuts.

The Bloc Québécois  received a B. "The Bloc have a target that reflects what needs to be done based on science. However, their plan is not very detailed," said Langlois. For instance, the party doesn't specify a price for carbon emissions.

The NDP received a B.  . . . lost marks for relying only on cap and trade for reducing emissions and forgoing a carbon tax.

The Conservative party received an F+ because the Sierra Club said it has chosen a "completely inadequate" target for reducing greenhouse gases and because it is relying on intensity targets to meet its goals.

See also: Canadian elections and climate change

Technology changes slower when applied to non-renewable resources

A reality check from Richard Heinberg's current Museletter:

Given plenty of cheap available energy, technology can work wonders. It is understandable that our society has fetishized technology, given the spectacular societal changes it has wrought in the past century. In the last twenty years alone, computers, cell phones, and a suite of other digital communications technologies have created industries and fortunes, altered our habits, and morphed our vocabulary. The evolution of computers has been subject to Moore's Law, according to which processor speed, memory capacity, and even the resolution of digital cameras are expected to double every two years. It is tempting to extrapolate these rapid developments in communication technologies to the fields of transportation and energy production. But in these areas technological change is slower and more expensive, and more obviously dependent on continued consumption of non-renewable resources such as oil, natural gas, coal, and iron ore.

US Politicans and FDA accept continued use of bisphenol-A

Image © Michael Jastremski under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 1.0 License

If you follow this kind of thing, you probably heard that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared the plastic-modifying chemical, bisphenol-A, to be safe.  From here in Canada, where our ideologically-conservative government recently banned its use in baby bottles, this came as a bit of a surprise.  My skeptical stance did get me wondering what role lobbying might have played in rescuing the peddlers of BPA but, to be fair to me, I did withhold judgement. This article, by the generally-conservative Economist, quickly tipped me back into a more familiar, corporate-wary view.  It does a good job in clearing cobwebs and uncertainly on the issue. My conclusion: avoid the stuff. A few quotes:

A bill in the California assembly, which passed the state senate in May, would have banned the use of bisphenol-A (BPA) in products used by children under the age of three. An avalanche of shameless lobbying killed it: the vote was 31 to 27 against, with 22 weaselly abstentions.

The brouhaha over BPA echoes the battle over smoking and cancer a generation ago. Sooner or later, health authorities in most developed countries will heed the scientific evidence and follow Canada’s lead in banning BPA - at least in baby bottles, if not in all household products.
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. . . over 100 scientific studies have linked low doses of BPA to prostate and breast cancer, reproductive abnormalities, accelerated puberty in females, low sperm count in males, neurological effects similar to ADHD, diabetes and even obesity.

The effects have their biggest impact during early stages of development. Hence the special concern about protecting infants and young children from exposure to even the smallest doses of BPA. Altogether, more than 300 research papers have now been published on the health hazards associated with BPA.

Solar power cities showing the way

As the days begin to lengthen in the south and shorten in the north, give a thought to the sun which daily brings us energy we can't destroy or deplete. Aside from its indisputable power, solar power, it may be the one resource that could take humankind beyond the foreseeable future which presently does not look good. So, here's a little energy lift, courtesy of Post Carbon Cities:

Promoting solar with policies and projects

Sure, it helps to be in a sunny climate like Cloncurry, Australia, which aims to go 100% sun-powered in two years. But today's solar technology can capture a lot of energy even in relatively cloudy climates. Just look at cities like Freiburg and Ulm in famously gloomy Germany, which has long been a global leader in solar energy. Here are some other cities - sunny and otherwise - that are paving the way for solar:

• This September, Berkeley, California will be rolling out a small pilot of a program in which they will finance residential solar panels, allowing the owners to repay the cost of the course of 20 years.
• Portland, Oregon is adjusting its building codes to streamline and simplify the permitting processes for solar installations.
• Kyoto, Japan has started a green power certification system to promote "local production for local consumption" of solar-produced electricity. The certificates help fund new photovoltaic power plants.
• Barcelona, Spain has a policy requiring new and refurbished buildings to save energy by using solar thermal hot water. Solar hot water heaters are also being promoted by cities in India.
• Australia's $75 million AUD ($67 million USD) Solar Cities program shows what just a little national-level effort can do. It's helping 13 Central Victoria towns establish two solar parks and install over 300 photovoltaic systems and 700 solar hot water systems on residences.