I generally regard Greenpeace as a bunch of dangerous scaremogering lunatics with a proven record of falsifying the facts to get their message across (like here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and many more, some of which are summarised here). But this piece shows that at least they have a sense of humour - or the publicity company they hired did, at any rate. I particularly liked the bicycle idea.
(As an aside, the whole business of these low-energy bulbs makes me very annoyed. We keep getting free ones delivered, without asking, from various sources, and I am told that 'proper' lightbulbs will soon be phased out altogether. I don't like the low-energy bulbs: they give a very cold and greenish light, they take ages to warm up, and they are full of very nasty rare-earth chemicals that cause horrible pollution elsewhere on the planet. But hey, they are 'green', right, so stop complaining. It's a shame that they are seen as the solution to the problem, as the technology to produce them is dirty, and in any case they are now outdated. LEDs use far less energy, and produce better light more cleanly. I guess they will be sending us free LED bulbs and making us feel guilty again in about 2020.)
Today is the last day to make or import 'proper' light bulbs. I bet there are wharehouses stuffed to the rafters with incandescent bulbs that will be sold on at huge profits as everybody gets more and more annoyed with not being able to read under eco-bulbs.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, the eco-bulbs are more efficient because they turn less of the energy used into heat, and so can operate on a lower energy consumption. That's fine, except that we live in a country which is, for much of the year, cold. So all those lightbulbs used to make a small contribution to heating our homes will no longer do so. In terms of the average house, this will probably make no measurable difference, but across all the households in Europe, on average the heating will be going up a notch, thus cancelling out any energy saving from the eco-bulbs.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant - except not brilliant, but rather dim. Like the sodding bulbs.
My stock of 'proper' bulbs in the airing cupboard will be appreciating in value as I write.