EU 100W light bulb ban leads to panic buying, but not in the UK

The reality, ignored by the nay-sayers, is that this is developing technology. The next generation of lightning is slated to start to replace current CFLs within the next few years.

This new LED based technology is already developed and tested. Much of the work is taking place in the UK (hoorah).

I like the argument in the previous post against CFLs - 'there is no energy shortage' - maybe like there is no food shortage so lets all get obese! what? Try thinking.

RE Al La: "maybe like there is no food shortage so lets all get obese! what? Try thinking"

More like: There is no food shortage, so why should we be forced to diet?

Efficiency is but one advantage in a product
- inefficient products have advantages too, or noone would buy them.
Consumers - not politicians - choose to pay for the energy they use.

RE LEDs
http://ceolas.net/#li8x

Certainly interesting, but nowhere near a general replacement possibility.
They look different from ordinary light bulbs, and give out a different (though modifiable) light spectrum: they usually come in pure colour light combinations to produce white light.
Still different then.

Moreover, LEDs have 4 main problems as household light replacements using standard fittings and mains voltage:
1. The complex multimodular structure required to produce white light
2. The difficulty in achieving bright lights
3. The difficulty in achieving lights that spread the light around well - rather than being directional.
4. The difficulty in achieving such lights at a reasonable price.
Currently there are some 40 Watt equivalent lights at 50 US dollars from different suppliers, and a 60 Watt equivalent light for 120 dollars.
Brighter household replacement lights at CFL comparable cost is not expected for at least another 5 years (Professor Colin Humphreys of Cambridge University, who in a July 2009 BBC radio interview http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003lrrv also goes into the latest research findings).
One problem is the so-called droop effect. August 2009 article: http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/optoelectronics/the-leds-dark-secret = As the current in LEDs increases in an effort to increase brightness, the brightness suddenly plummets.

We use 3.watt bulbs for walllighting, will they also be phased out, they seem too small for the replacement energy saving type? O will we have small energy saving bulbs say 3 or 5 watt??
wallywat

Peter in Dublin, I think your point of view is spot on, and very well communicated here. Incentives for people to change always work best, instead of strong-handed commands. Stalin's governing method is not friendly to "the governed", and yet it seems today that many people are running to embrace it, over liberty and freedom. Yuck!

Brian,
Thanks, I think the simple political notion is that
"one light is as good as another" so efficient ones must be best:
EU politicians (similarly to USA in the House Energy Bill) have extended this "wise thought"
to everything from buildings to cars to washing machines to TV sets, screens and computers...

Problem is, as said,
efficiency is but one advantage in a product
- inefficient products have advantages too, or noone would buy them.
In fact there are a whole host of differences
relating to appearance, construction, cost, performance and indeed to savings for all such products
( http://www.ceolas.net/#cc2x = "why all energy efficiency regulation is wrong")

Emission and energy problems can and should of course be dealt with directly.
Light bulbs don't give out CO2 gas.
Power stations do.
http://www.ceolas.net/#cc1x
.