Lighting up more efficiently

Far from being horrified, industry has welcomed political interest in energy-saving light-bulbs, writes Emily Smith.

Sigmar Gabriel, the German environment minister, suggested in February asking governments to agree a gradual phase-out of inefficient lighting at this year’s spring European Council. His idea did not make it into draft summit conclusions.

The EU lighting industry was therefore as surprised as most Europeans when the summit ended with governments asking the Commission "rapidly to submit proposals to enable increased energy efficiency requirements" for light-bulbs. Proposals are due next year for street and office lighting, and in 2009 for domestic light-bulbs.

Far from being horrified by the idea of new legislation, the lighting industry welcomed the increased political interest in low-emission light-bulbs.

"All the actions being contemplated for street and office lighting seem pretty consistent with the approach we were already taking, under Europe’s energy-using products (EUP) directive," said Gerald Strickland, secretary-general of the European Lamp Companies Federation (ELC).

The ELC had also suggested adding domestic light-bulbs to the list of products covered by the directive. "The EUP will already set minimum performance requirements for products including computers and dishwashers, as well as street and office lights" said Strickland. "We saw domestic lighting as the next big area to address."

As Strickland says, work to replace inefficient street and office lighting with low-energy bulbs is progressing smoothly. ‘Bottom Up to Kyoto’, a project supported by the Commission’s Intelligent Energy Europe programme, aims to help five eastern European regions reduce emissions by installing existing low-energy lighting technologies - achieving Kyoto climate change targets from the bottom up.

But surprisingly, given industry’s enthusiasm, there are still a lot of technical barriers to be overcome before energy-efficient versions of the classic domestic light-bulb take over.

Problems include the need for expensive new fittings for most eco-bulbs, as well as the cost of the bulbs themselves, which can be up to ten times more expensive than a conventional variety. Industry representatives say they are struggling to convince shoppers that the energy-efficient bulbs will more than pay for themselves by bringing down the electricity bill. Lighting can account for up to a third of the average EU household’s electricity consumption.

The bulbs have also been linked to health problems, including light sensitivity and epilepsy. Many patients wrote to the European Parliament after the summit agreement, asking for reassurance that any bulbs put on the market would not be dangerous.

Low-energy bulbs can wear out quickly if they are turned on and off too often, making them only suitable for rooms needing fairly consistent lighting. They are also unsuitable for some applications, including medical equipment and are too large for chandeliers.

And they contain traces of mercury, making them one of the few products exempt from an upcoming EU mercury ban.

A UK start-up business today (16 May) announced that it had found a solution to several of these problems, supporting industry claims that an EU domestic lighting proposal will work.

The ‘Continuum’ lighting technology from technology company Ceravision can be used in medical devices and does not contain mercury. The bulbs are also "about the size of a fingernail", according to a Ceravision representative, offering hope to chandelier-owners across Europe.

Far from being horrified, industry has welcomed political interest in energy-saving light-bulbs, writes Emily Smith.