| U.S. plant to make mercury-free energy saving light bulbs Yesterday, light bulb maker Osram Sylvania生活 announced that it will preserve the jobs of 265 workers at its manufacturing plant in the city of St. Marys, Pennsylvania, by refitting the factory to make a new type of energy saving lamp. The plant currently produces traditional A-shape incandescent bulbs, but these are soon to be phased out by new U.S. energy efficiency regulations. Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, the regulations set a higher efficiency level for 100-watt light bulbs, which today’s incandescent bulbs can not meet. The new regulations will be phased in to include standard 75-watt incandescent bulbs by Jan.1, 2013, and standard 60-watt and 40-watt bulbs by Jan. 2, 2014. Even higher efficiency levels will be required for all light bulbs by 2020. According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the new energy saving lamp regulations, along with the rest of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, were designed to “make America more energy independent, respond to the global warming crisis, and grow our economy.” While the global warming movement is facing a crisis of its own, the light bulb efficiency regulations remain in place. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. By installing energy efficient bulbs throughout their homes, consumers can save a significant amount of energy and money on utility bills. And even though CO2 may not be as great a problem as once thought, other power plant emissions, such as ozone, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, still create air quality problems. So reducing the amount of electricity needed for lighting will help energy saving lamp reduce these pollutants. Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) 生活and light emitting diode bulbs (LEDs) are considered the best technologies that will be able to meet the new efficiency standards. But both of these have several problems. |
