People who should know better like the NY Times Business of Green, and those who don't want to know better like the Daily Mail or (usually, but not always) the Daily Telegraph, were united this week in looking for controversy and problems over the new rules consigning incandescent bulbs to, well, the age of Edison.
The problem is that where there isn't a controversy for 95% of people, the noisy, and usually stupid, minority get the headlines. The problem here is that CFLs are thought of as the permanent solution, whereas it will be an LED and OLED world of illumination sooner than most think.
And it isn't simply a matter of cheap light bulbs, OLED will also replace LCD displays, again for a better product at minimal cost. Illumination can be anywhere from 20 to 50% of total energy spend for a business. The issue won't be how to keep the lights on when the lights do the same or better job at consumption rates of <5% of current use. In sunnier climes, solar panels and rechargeable batteries will be able to replace grid power entirely.
OLEDs will also impact carbon through generation reduction. Surging supply of natural gas meets accelerating demand destruction. The future of energy is all good news. The problem is that those who have made a career of providing expensive solution to big problems will fight a rearguard action to disinform energy buyers over non-existent risks based on anecdote instead of fact.
Latest OLED good news comes from Japan:
“We have discovered a range of conditions using a two-solvent method that can make extremely smooth thin films using electrospray deposition,” says Yamagata. “Using this technology these devices could be manufactured as inexpensively as printing newspapers.”
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