Posted by jamie — 7 August 2007 at 10:40am
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A bulb a day keeps climate change at bay (or something along those lines...)
We've had a lot of support for our current light bulbs campaign (and some detractors too, it has to be said) but there have been many queries about whether compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) really are what they're cracked up to be - what about the mercury, can they be recycled, that sort of thing. Many of them have already been covered elsewhere on the site, but it's worth following them up in a slightly more prominent position.
If you have any more queries, just post a comment below or contact us at info@uk.greenpeace.org.
Posted by jamie — 26 July 2007 at 5:30pm
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We're beginning to see the first positive results from the light bulb retailers league table we published nearly two weeks ago. Both ASDA and Morrisons have just announced they will improve their game plan and phase out those power-crazy incandescents by the end of 2010, which moves them a couple of places up the league table, leapfrogging several other retailers.
Posted by jamie — 25 July 2007 at 5:20pm
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I've been meaning to write about these videos for some time but somehow it never seemed the right moment (and all our Woolworths work kept getting in the way), so apologies if you've already seen them elsewhere. Yet in the lull after the hard launch of our light bulbs campaign, it's worth pointing out that it's not just in the UK that a shift to energy-efficient bulbs is being sought.
We all know that, to stop climate change, we need to stop burning fossil fuels. The government says we need nuclear power to do this. Our new film explains why nuclear power can’t stop climate change – and lays down a better, cheaper, more convenient solution:
Right-click on these links and select 'Save link as...' to download the film as a Quicktime (30MB) or Windows Media (27MB) file.
Convinced? Find out what you can do to make sure the UK gets a genuinely clean and efficient energy system.
Not convinced yet? Read on.
The single biggest use of fossil fuels in the UK isn't for electricity or for transport, but for creating heat to warm our buildings and power our industrial processes. So any solution to climate change needs to contribute to heating, as well as to electricity generation.
Nuclear power contributes almost nothing to our enormous heating requirements. In fact it contributes less than four per cent to our overall energy needs. And building new nuclear power stations (as the government wants to do) won't increase that share.
So what is the solution? Well, in the same amount of time and for less money, we could implement an energy system that will do far more to stop climate change and ensure energy security than nuclear power: a combination of renewable energy, efficiency, and combined heat and power:
Posted by jamie — 15 June 2007 at 4:23pm
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The numbers are in and sadly they weren't quite what we were hoping for. Despite the huge amount of emails you sent to MEPs, asking them to support a ban on inefficient light bulbs across the EU, not enough signed up to adopt the declaration.
Posted by jamie — 13 June 2007 at 11:01am
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Treehugger reminds us that tomorrow is National Liftshare Day, when everyone is encouraged to make sure as many seats as possible are filled for those essential car journeys.
Posted by jamie — 11 June 2007 at 5:26pm
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In the news today are reports of the first zero-carbon home being unveiled in London. Housing minister Yvette Cooper has been touring the site, nodding in a ministerial way at the insulation, solar panels, water recycling and construction methods that went into the first home to meet the top standards of the government's sustainable housing code.
According to the report on this morning's Today programme (you can listen again for the next seven days), the ultra-efficient abode cost 40 per cent more to build than a 'normal' house but as more are built, the economies of scale will bring that down. As the government intends to make all new housing zero-carbon by 2016, that price fall should start in the near future, although Cooper was evasive when quizzed about exactly how many of the 160,000 homes planned in the Thames Gateway region would be zero-carbon. A rolling increase in standards was all she would commit to.
Ever wanted to make a real difference to the world but never seem to have the time? Well, here’s a chance for you to help cut around 20 million tonnes of Europe’s carbon emissions, in about two minutes.
These two bulbs might look pretty similar but, beneath the surface, there are some important differences.
The bulb on the left uses five times less energy than the one on the right. It lasts up to 12 times longer. It can save UK consumers around £1.2 billion in electricity bills per year. It’s available for less than a pound from several major retailers.
Amsterdam: Greenpeace replaces power crazy bulbs with low energy ones
Efficiency is the amount of energy an appliance or device uses to get a certain output. The more efficient a device is, the less electricity it uses - and the less climate-changing emissions are pumped into the atmosphere.
The technologies exist for making all sorts of energy efficient products – from light bulbs and TVs to cars and fridges. But, because it’s cheaper and easier for industry to keep churning out the same old products, most of us are still using old, inefficient technologies and unnecessarily damaging the climate.
