This post is my little contribution to Blog Action Day.

Oil is by and large used for transportation and, in the US and Canada, with coal used to generate electrical power. Some power is generated by nuclear, natural gas, hydro, oil, wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro, but half of the total is through burning coal. In 2005, in terms percentages of the total, and showing the number of thousands of megawatt-hours:

50% 2,013,179 Coal
19% 781,986 Nuclear
19% 757,974 Natural Gas
7% 269,587 Hydroelectric Conventional
3% 122,522 Petroleum
2% 94,932 Other Renewables
0% 16,317 Other Gases
0% 4,749 Other
0% -6,558 Hydroelectric Pumped Storage

You can see a fuller explanation of the figures and sources at the link. In contrast, BTW, New Zealand currently gets 70% of its electrical power from wind, hydro, and geothermal and by 2025 plans to get 90% from those sources.

Given the heavy reliance on coal, everything we can do to reduce our consumption of electrical power is to the good. For example, compact fluorescent lightbulbs are nowadays much better than previously: they are brighter, they have essentially the same spectrum as sunlight, and they use MUCH less electricity.

Some have expressed concern that compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) contain mercury. In fact, there’s an urban legend that plays on this fear. But not only do CFLs contain minimal amounts of mercury, the total mercury released to the environment over a five-year period is less for CFLs than for incandescent lights: the incandescent lights contain no mercury, but because they use much more power, the amount of mercury released by burning the coal to power them (in comparison to the CFLs) is greater. From Wikipedia:

CFLs, like all fluorescent lamps (e.g., long tubular lamps common in offices and kitchens), contain small amounts of mercury[32][33] and it is a concern for landfills and waste incinerators where the mercury from lamps may be released and contribute to air and water pollution. In the USA, lighting manufacturer members of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) have made a voluntary commitment to cap the amount of mercury used in CFLs:

Under the voluntary commitment, effective April 15, 2007, NEMA members will cap the total mercury content in CFLs of less than 25 watts at 5 milligrams (mg) per unit. The total mercury content of CFLs that use 25 to 40 watts of electricity will be capped at 6 mg per unit.[34]

Coal power plants are “the largest uncontrolled industrial source of mercury emissions in Canada”.[35] According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (when coal power is used) the mercury released from powering an incandescent lamp for five years exceeds the total of (a) the mercury released by powering a comparably luminous CFL for the same period and (b) the mercury contained in the lamp.[36] It should be noted, however that the “EPA is implementing policies to reduce airborne mercury emissions. Under regulations issued in 2005, coal-fired power plants will need to reduce their emissions by 70 percent by 2018.”[37].

Some manufacturers such as Philips and GE make very low-mercury content CFLs.[38] In 2007, Philips claimed its Master TL-D Alto range to have the lowest mercury content of any CFL on the market, at 2mg.[39]

See the article at the Wikipedia link for more information. Obviously, it’s desirable to take CFLs to a recycling facility—and even more desirable to take long-tube fluorescents to a recycler.

I have found that FullSpectrumSolutions.com offers excellent lighting fixtures and bulbs. I replaced the 300-watt halogen torchiere in my study with a 70-watt Full Spectrum Solutions torchiere and saw my power bill drop $11 per month. (I’m in the study a lot.) And I love their 70-watt reading lamp, which throws out 4,300 lumens.

It’s worth noting that CFLs will not work as replacement bulbs in incandescent lighting fixtures that have dimmers or are intended for 2-way bulbs. OTOH, Full Spectrum Solutions offers torchieres, reading lamps, etc., that do include a dimmer switch that works fine with their CFLs.

So take the first step to saving energy and start replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs. In April Popular Mechanics ran a test of CFLs, and you can download the results as a PDF. That should help with your selection.

Go now. Save money and the environment.