To fight warming, Canada will ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012
Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com
April 25, 2007
In an effort to fight greenhouse gas emissions, Canada plans to ban use of incandescent light bulbs by 2012, said Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn.
Canada follows Australia as the second country to announce a ban on the inefficient bulbs. California legislators have proposed a similar ban for 2012.
"Making the switch to more efficient lighting is one of the easiest and most effective things we can do to reduce energy use and harmful emissions," said Lunn at a news conference. "By banning inefficient lighting, we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by more than 6 million tonnes per year. More than that, these new standards will help reduce the average household electricity bill by approximately $50 a year."
Slash-and-burn agriculture in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. Logging roads can open remote rainforest areas to colonists and developers who clear rainforest for subsistence agriculture and oil palm plantations. Photo by R. Butler.
The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a nonprofit organization that focuses on energy policy, estimates that replacing a single 75-watt incandescent light bulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent would save 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide and save customers $55 over the life of the bulb.
Canada produces about 2 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions or around 588 million metric tons (2004) of the heat-trapping gas. Since 1990, emissions have risen by about 23 percent.
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