Inside a "new and eco-friendly" lightbulb....

[N2EY]

Was not aware of the mercury/coal link. I was thinking mercury wetted contacts and such. Since almost no electrical plants around here use coal, and those that do are far away in PA or NY, didn't dawn on me that coal would contain mercury.

Mercury-wetted contacts are contained, and not a problem.

There are coal-fired plants in and around New England. New York isn't all that far away from you, particularly since the wind generally blows from west to east. Some of the mercury from coal burned in plants west of NH winds up in your local streams, lakes and rivers.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[N2RJ]

To follow up on what Jim posted, the 375KWH additional could be a lot of fossil fuel burning. For example, I run a generator 24/7 at a communications site. I get 10KWH per gallon of diesel burned. That means if these bulbs were running at that location, they would save 37.5 gallons of diesel over their lifetime. That is a lot of fuel. Of course, commercial power is more efficient, maybe 4 times more so. So it might only save 10 gallons of fuel (or equivalent NG or coal) to run that bulb. But that is still enough fuel to run a car for 200+ miles.

I am not big on environmental issues, but things that can be proven to be economical and less polluting have my approval.

Joe

I have a 6500 watt portable inverter generator for home backup with a whole house automatic transfer switch. It has an "eco throttle" mode where it matches engine RPMs to the demand, saving fuel. I can go for up to 14 hours on 4.5 gallon tank of fuel. I got 12 hours per tank when I used it for a long term power outage.

But more importantly since I was using energy efficient lights (CFL and LED) I was able to run more lights instead of having to cycle loads or run fewer lights. Bottom line is that we were running the house just as if we were on grid power. And in a power outage that is just fantastic.

[N2EY]

I run a generator 24/7 at a communications site. I get 10KWH per gallon of diesel burned. That means if these bulbs were running at that location, they would save 37.5 gallons of diesel over their lifetime. That is a lot of fuel. Of course, commercial power is more efficient, maybe 4 times more so. So it might only save 10 gallons of fuel (or equivalent NG or coal) to run that bulb. But that is still enough fuel to run a car for 200+ miles.

Let's do the math!

A gallon of diesel fuel has 139,200 btu of energy in it. A kWH of electricity is 3,413 btu. So 10 KWH is 34,130 btu, and the efficiency of your diesel plant is 34,130/139,200 = 24.5%. That's total efficiency of the system, fuel to electric outlet, not just engine efficiency. Pretty good for a small system.

Commercial power generation and transmission is more efficient, but not 4 times more efficient. Maybe 2-2.5 times the efficiency, from fuel to electric outlet. In any case the fuel savings by using less electricity are considerable.

btw, large marine diesel engines can be more than 50% efficient (fuel to crankshaft). Google "the world's largest diesel engine" for an example. The system efficiency is even greater if there's a use for the waste heat, as the marine diesels have (heating, hot water, etc.).

The reason diesels aren't widely used for electricity generation is that the fuel costs too much.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[KM6MB]

Was not aware of the mercury/coal link. I was thinking mercury wetted contacts and such. Since almost no electrical plants around here use coal, and those that do are far away in PA or NY, didn't dawn on me that coal would contain mercury.

Didn't with me either until last year, and I spent most of my working life keeping machines running in coal mines. Coal when burnt also releases Cadmium, lead, arsenic and a host of other nasty heavy metals and pollutants..

[KD0AUO]

Where is the epidemic of mercury poisoning that justifies all this money being spent?

I have a coal fired plant about 4 miles from my house.

I guess the entire town should be dying a slow death from mercury poisoning right? The thing has been there for at least 40 years...

[N2EY]

Where is the epidemic of mercury poisoning that justifies all this money being spent?

I have a coal fired plant about 4 miles from my house.

I guess the entire town should be dying a slow death from mercury poisoning right? The thing has been there for at least 40 years...

You're missing the point.

Some folks are upset because there's a few milligrams of mercury in a CFL. They forget that there are tons of mercury released by burning coal each year.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[K7JEM]

The reason diesels aren't widely used for electricity generation is that the fuel costs too much.

Tell me about it. I just wrote a check for $14,066 for diesel fuel. I charge $1 per KWH and the customers are happy to pay it. When you factor in machine costs, maint, fuel, etc, there isn't a whole lot of profit there.

Joe

[N2EY]

Tell me about it. I just wrote a check for $14,066 for diesel fuel. I charge $1 per KWH and the customers are happy to pay it. When you factor in machine costs, maint, fuel, etc, there isn't a whole lot of profit there.

You're probably not paying road tax on that diesel, either!

But your diesel plant probably isn't all that big, as power generation facilities go. Economies of scale and all that.

Imagine what it costs to feed one of these:

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/22/w...00-horsepower/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%A4...Sulzer_RTA96-C

Of course it burns bunker oil, not #2.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[WW2E]

Great bumper sticker I saw recently:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I'M PRO-CHOICE
(for lightbulbs)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cheers,
Dr. Detroit

[KY5U]

You're wrong about it being illegal to sell incandescents.
73 de Jim, N2EY

Linky says I was indeed partly wrong and partly right. Update: Congress voted to extend the deadline to October 2012 for 100W bulbs.