The Race to Ban the Lightbulb

It started in Cuba as a way to reduce the number of black-outs in that country, then the idea was picked up by Venezuela. But you know a green idea is coming in vogue when discussions start in California and Australia. Now almost everyone wants to ban the old incandescent light bulb to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions. The European Union is gearing up to start the ban in 2009. If it goes through, the ban in Europe will be the first in the world. (The US is tentatively signed up for a ban starting 2014.)

My green side thinks the ban is a wonderful idea. Compact florescent bulbs are great – they use a fraction of the energy and last forever – and there are a lot of people out there who still don’t use them. The combined benefits of a European ban are fantastic. Billions of kilo-watt hours of electricity would be saved annually, as well as about 23 million tons of CO2.

My business side is looking for the angle. Should I buy stock in Philips, Osram and other big lighting companies? Surely their profits will rise; CF bulbs cost a lot more than regular incandescents so the producers can get higher margins. Should I stock up on the incandescents and sell them in 2 or 3 years on eBay? Will there be a market? Will there be a gray market importing bulbs from those countries where they haven’t been banned?

My homemaker side is sizing up our lighting fixtures at home. Where do we still use incandescent today and why? Are we ready for the ban? How much will we miss incandescent?

Personally, I don’t think the last word has been said yet on the proposed bans and that many of them will be postponed by lobbyists and perhaps even a few lawsuits.

If the bans do go through in the next few years, what will we then use as an icon to mean “Eureka”?