Fluorescent bulbs use approximately one-half the energy of incandescent bulbs. This would appear to have a large potential for global energy savings, but first;
We must turn the telescope around and look at electricity from the global perspective. Household lighting is about:
15 percent of residential electricity or
6 percent of all electricity consumption or
2.4 percent of all global energy consumption.
If every household in the world switched to fluorescent bulbs, global energy consumption would be reduced by 1.2 percent.
But because energy does not hold still while we try to fix it even this small savings would be a short-lived. The demand for electricity is increasing at about 2.5 percent yearly. It is estimated that there are some two billon people who still don’t have access to electricity (Section 9, Example 1, The Global Energy Handbook).
