EDITOR´S CORNER
EDITOR´S CORNER
When we started to study the impacts of fuel-based lighting on a global
scale, it was hard to believe that the associated greenhouse gas emissions
were so great. Arguably, the numbers presented in the cover story have
large uncertainties. But even according to the lower end of the range,
the global environmental impacts from fuel-based lighting in developing
countries are stunning. Other end-uses, such as cooking may be larger
sources for CO2 emissions, but that is not a reason to ignore lighting,
especially since efficient lighting also would mean a better quality of
life.
It is intriguing that many households using fuel-based lamps today would
be willing to finance, for instance, a portable photovoltaic (PV) powered
lamp if only the products were available and reliable. The reason is that
the costs for purchasing kerosene and other fuels are so high that a moderately
priced PV lantern can be a very profitable investment.
In this issue, we also take a look at LEDs. They are indeed interesting
for many applications, but it seems as if they have a long way to go before
they can provide cost-effective lighting solutions on a large scale .
Finally, I am pleased to see that the European Commission proposes to
ban the most inefficient ballasts. It is just unfortunate that markets
don’t always work well enough on their own to eliminate such products.
Nils Borg, Editor
Tel: +46 8 673 11 31
Fax: +46 8 673 04 44
E-mail: nils@borgco.se