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[GreenYes] Re: mercury from fluorescents


Hi David ~

Yes, the typical fluorescent has about 5 milligrams of mercury in it, and, if the electricity used is generated by coal combustion systems, it not only reduces air emissions by 8-10 milligrams of mercury over its lifetime, but also considerable amounts of other air pollutants, such as NOx, SOx, CO2, etc. And, it saves about $30 in electricity costs.

So, using fluorescents is very benefical, and a win-win is to recycle the fluorescent when done, since they contribute a sizable amount of mercury if improperly disposed.

Best wishes,

John

-----Original Message-----
From: David Jaber [mailto:djaber@no.address]
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 6:52 PM
To: Reindl, John
Cc: GreenYes@no.address
Subject: Re: [GreenYes] mercury from fluorescents


And then the cost of what happens when you don't use fluorescents, and the coal use jacks up 30%?

Goes back to some of the systemic issues you raised recently, yes?

On May 10, 2007, at 2:08 PM, Reindl, John wrote:


According to the mercury flow model done for EPA, the release of mercury from fluorescents to the environment in 2005 in the US is estimated at about 8.2 metric tons, down from 13.7 metric tons in 2000.

All the coal burning power plants in the US emit about 45 metric tons of mercury to the air.

So, fluorescents are not an insignificant source of mercury emissions to the environment.

Please let me know if you would like a copy of the model, which is an Excel spreadsheet.

John Reindl
Dane County, WI

-----Original Message-----
From: GreenYes@no.address [ mailto:GreenYes@no.address]On Behalf Of daklute@no.address
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 1:51 PM
To: Doug Koplow
Cc: bill@no.address; GreenYes@no.address
Subject: [GreenYes] Re: Ban the Bulb -- But don't create a new toxic problem, say local governments


The ENERGY STAR program has pretty rigorous QA/QC in terms of lumen maintenance and hours of use. If they don't perform, they don't get certified. IF they don't get certified, Wal-Mart won't sell them. Also, the EPACT set up certain hours of use requirmenets for CFL's - I think it is 6000.

Don't forget, as a source of anthropogenic Hg, this is a very small one.












David Jaber
Natural Logic
510-248-4941
djaber@no.address
----------------
Strategy, feedback, and implementation
http://www.natlogic.com





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