Europe Implements Ban on Old School Light Bulbs in Favor of CFLs

It may be that you have been slowly going through your house or apartment and switching out your old incandescent light bulbs for fancy new compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) because you've heard that they last longer and are way better for the environment. Well, starting today in Europe, that slow switchover is going to start going a lot faster. Today's the day that the European Union puts into effect strict restrictions on the old kind of light bulb as it works toward its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. But as the New York Times reports, not everyone's thrilled, and the E.U. government is being forced to sell its reasoning.

One bulb can cost €10, or $14 — or a lot more, depending on type — whereas traditional incandescent bulbs cost about 70 cents each. But E.U. officials argued that the energy savings would cut average household electricity bills by up to €50 a year, amounting to about €5 billion annually. That would help buoy the economy if consumers spent their savings, they said. At a briefing Monday in Brussels, however, they also were defending themselves against charges that they were depriving children of traditional fairground lights, and dealing with more serious questions about health hazards from the mercury in the new lamps.

I'm amazed a bulb can cost ten euro. I'm almost positive here we're looking at about three bucks. Maybe four. But, the fact that there is mercury in a CFL means that they must be disposed of in a specific manner, and if one breaks, there are extra precautions to take. Additionally, some people just find the light, well, worse. As a warning, the health hazard and aesthetics arguments are going to find their way over to the U.S.  soon, as we're set to restrict incandescent light bulbs ourselves in 2012.

photo credit: AZAdam's flickr photostream/Creative Commons