Back to Right Light Proceedings startpage
Wolfgang BräuerSocial Costs of Efficient Lighting Kaiserring 14-16, 68161 Mannheim, Germany Abstract Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) can save a lot of electricity and thus, depending on how this electricity is generated, can avoid a lot of negative impacts on the environment and human health. But the production of CFLs is supposed to be more environmentally harmful than the production of general purpose lights (GPL). Hence, one part of the social costs due to negative environmental impacts is shifted from electricity production to CFL production. However, recent investigations have found that the burdens of CFL production are indeed higher than those of the corresponding GPL production. But these production-related impacts are quite small compared to those of the energy savings one can achieve with CFLs. From a system-oriented point of view these relations change. If one takes into account that the money saved by using CFLs is spent, e.g. on private consumption which again is related to environmental impacts, the environmental advantages will be reduced.
|