Science Scene - Energy Efficient Lighting

Did you know that the average residential light socket is used about 700 hours per year? [if you do the math, that is about 1.9 hours per day, which passes the sanity/gut check]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has instituted the "L Prize", a competition that challenges lighting designers to replace the commonly used 60W light bulb with the PAR 38 halogen lamp with ultra-efficient solid-state lighting products. A future L Prize program will call for development of a new 21st-century lamp that delivers more than 150 lumen's per watt.

So what does it all mean? The L Prize competition focuses on development and market adoption of a solid-state lighting replacement for the 60W lamp that uses only 10W - a savings of 83%. If every socket in the United States converted from 60W incandescent lamps to the 10W L Prize winner, the country would save 34 terawatt-hours of electricity per year; enough to power the lights of 17.4 million households (twice the consumption of Las Vegas). That also equates to 5.6 million tons of carbon emissions).

Do you use energy efficient lighting? If not, why not?

For a listing of current light bulb options and information, click here.

Stimulus Package - Will Nuclear Get a Fair Shake?

US NEWS: --SENATE APPROPRIATORS APPROVED $50 BILLION IN LOAN GUARANTEE authority in fiscal 2009 for new nuclear power plants and other clean energy technology projects. The appropriators approved the provision January 27 as part of a stimulus package intended to create more jobs and reinvigorate the economy. A report accompanying the legislation, S. 336, said the loan guarantee authorization would supplement the levels previously approved for the loan guarantee program. It said the committee was providing additional authorization because of the "strong interest in the program and the large number of pending applications."

Under the program, there is currently $18.5 billion available for power reactor projects, which the industry says would cover construction of no more than three new nuclear units, and $2 billion available for nuclear fuel cycle facilities. DOE said it initially received 19 applications to build 21 new reactors, but the department hasn't disclosed how many of those applicants completed the second part of the filing process by last month's deadline. House appropriators did not include a similar provision to expand loan guarantees for nuclear projects in their version of the stimulus legislation.

Differences between the House and Senate versions would have to be ironed out by members of a congressional conference committee.