EU plan to ban the bulb
Wednesday, 14th March 2007
Letter to London local press
Sir
There is a campaign in the corridors of Brussels to ban the sale of traditional incandescent light bulbs in the EU within two years. As lighting is said to account for around 19 percent of all electricity production, it is thought this move could cut carbon emissions by up to 20 million tonnes per year.
While we would all welcome more energy efficiency, users of energy-saving light bulbs have complained that they take time to warm up, and that the light produced by them is often too poor to read a book. While they may be acceptable for a hallway, they are often unsuitable for some offices or a bathroom.
Rather than banning traditional light bulbs within two years, maybe we should first incentivise the industry to innovate and produce better, cheaper and more energy-efficient models and to reduce the flicker on existing energy-saving bulbs. The industry could be encouraged to provide more information to consumers so that they can make responsible decisions about which bulbs would be more suitable for their circumstances.
Are we right to sacrifice freedoms to ward off global warming? Or is there too much heat and not enough light in the global warming debate? I would be interested in the views of readers who can write to me at syed@syedkamall.com.
Yours sincerely
Syed Kamall
Conservative MEP for London
European Parliament
Brussels