Lights out for old bulbs

Australian MPs have passed legislation which will see standard incandescent bulbs outlawed in 2010 when the use of energy saving bulbs will become mandatory.

Once implemented the ban is expected to cut the country’s total carbon emissions by a small but nevertheless significant 0.75%

The move makes Australia the first country to adopt such a law but similar initiatives have been seen in Cuba and Hugo Chavez’s socialist Venezuela where the state has given away millions of bulbs in an effort to persuade the public to switch.

Legislators in both California and New Jersey have also suggested a ban on incandescent bulbs, though such proposals have yet to get off the drawing board.

Sam Bond