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Save energy — two words that have before you can turn around befit a modern day mantra. But some are straight away occasionally asking, at what cost?

One person asking that grill is City University of Hong Kong’s professor Ron Hui, chairman of the electronic engineering department, and co-author of a latest paper published in a peer-reviewed journal on the environmental impact of fluorescent lighting.

Hui has a problem with closely-knit fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), specifically electronic ones. He wants them out of people’s homes as much as an increasing number of governments there the world want incandescent light bulbs out of our homes. Hui wants them replaced by magnetic CFLs instead. Why? CNN spoke recently with Professor Hui.

CNN: What is the problem with CFLs?

Professor Ron Hui: We support the estimation of energy-efficient lamps but we be dressed to tell the public about the consequences. The lifetime of electronic CFLs (eCFLs) is very limited; on average nine months and no more than one year. Many prepare the misconception that energy saving equals being friendly to the environment. But to be environmentally friendly two factors necessity rot hand in hand. First, we must not pollute the atmosphere; and number two we must not pollute the soil and the water. EFLs do save energy, but if the lifetime is, say, 10,000 hours, that’s 1.1 years. And every year we throw these products in the garbage bin, so that’s hundreds of millions a year.

CNN: Most be undergoing the impression CFLs last a long time. But are you saying this is not the case?

Hui: The [eCFL] manufacturer will quote 7,000 to 10,000 hours of operation, but the existing operating time is based on the temperature. [eCFL's] component, the electrolytic capacitor, is highly temperature sensitive and at the minute, the best one has a lifespan of 10,000 hours at a temperature of 105 degrees Celsius (221 degrees Fahrenheit). But in MO = ‘modus operandi’, the temperature will be a lot higher and it could go above 130 degrees Celsius. Every 10 degree increase in operating temperature means the lifetime drops by 50 percent. Very often when eCFLs fail, it is the electrolytic capacitor that has failed. The failure rate is high, typically six to nine months, particularly in some regions.

CNN: What is the main quandary with how we dispose of these CFLs?

Hui: The problem is, when you open an eCFL, you will see an electronic ambit. On the printed circuit board we have a layer of anti-flame resistant coating made of PBDE — this is highly toxic and in each lamp we demand 3-5 milligrams of mercury. The safe intake of mercury for a human company is a few micrograms. One milligram is 1,000 micrograms. The problem is that eCFL is an integrated product. … So the whole of it gets thrown away. And for the eCFL, you can’t recycle it as you cannot reuse the used circle board. And if you do recycle the tube, what about the e-waste? No one wants to talk about it.

CNN: Some say that in the absence of recycling schemes landfills remain an option. Are you saying that is not the case?

Hui: Government departments like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have misleading arguments, like landfills are OK. In many countries, like Hong Kong, the garbage truck want compress the garbage [en road to the landfill]. The lamps inclination be broken which means the mercury will be transferred all over the city. The Hong Kong government told us that the landfill can handle mercury. I told them the mercury vapor will escape before it gets there. Even if they can safely transport the CFLs [to the landfill], the safety layer has a lifespan of apropos 100 years. So you are building a time bomb for future generations.

CNN: But don’t CFLs cut down on the overall amount of mercury produced compared to incandescent light bulbs?

Hui: Talking about the amount of mercury emitted from power stations is a false argument. With power stations, the contamination is in that stretch, but immediately we are talking upon bringing that contamination into every home, every street. We may have less mercury in the whole production process than with incandescent light bulbs but the difference with CFLs is that the mercury settle upon be in our homes and in our streets.

CNN: So if we can’t use CFLs, what can we use?

Hui: We do have alternatives: a magnetic CFL (mCFL). Inside is iron essence and copper wiring, that’s all, no electronics. One company that makes these offers a lifetime guarantee of 17 years and at the end of that 17 years you can recycle the iron and copper so it is a recyclable technology. One Austrian company manufactures both and says their magnetic CFLs will last 30 years and after that you can still recycle it. In a dimmable system we have proved that charismatic ballasts are as energy-efficient as electronic ballasts. We believe magnetic ballasts are the most sustainable solution as we don’t have the e-waste problem.

CNN: But you still make the problem with the mercury, don’t you?

Hui: If you dropped both lamps, the mercury would be the same and it would still be harmful. Magnetic CFLs do have mercury too, but the lamp is detachable. So you can recycle the tube, and you can subsistence the magnetic ballast. Magnetic CFLs allow the tube to function through its lifetime; with eCFLs the electrolytic capacitor always fails first. The best solution is magnetic CFLs and to have a set up to recycle the tubes. I enquire no reason to generate hundreds of millions of tons of e-waste. After all, they dump it in China, India and Africa. Most of the e-waste collected in Europe [for recycling] ends up there. Before you build a nuclear station, you think helter-skelter how to dispose of the waste. If we have no good reason to create all this e-waste then we should stop it.

CNN: How difficult is it to recycle the tubes?

Hui: We do have the technology to recycle the mercury, and the lamp manufacturers must pay for the recycling as they make the profit.

CNN: So what is needed here, government intervention?

Hui: eCFLs is a highly profitable business so it pass on be difficult for companies to pursue more environmentally-friendly products. Industry standards are heavily influenced by the companies as the members of the companies themselves are the ones drafting the standards. Hopefully when the public know more about this, then hopefully governments will [step in].We should enlighten the public with genuine info and then they can choose.
From: rss.cnn.com

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