It has now dawned on the regulators, and the manufacturers that there are other possibilities rather than CFLi or LED. Brought to the point in trying to sort out how to regulate reflector lamps they have now realised that there is no current or medium term option other than continued development of Tungsten Halogen technology.
The manufacturers have also realised that the mass import of mercury containing lamps to the EU is not such a clever idea either particularly as the infrastructure for collection and recycling of these rather dirty products is not catching up with the increased rate of imports. This has not been helped by the ban on export of Mercury from the EU resulting in a one way traffic of mercury into the EU and a zero market for recovered mercury that makes the recycling of CFLi more difficult and even less cost effective. From what I have heard they are now stalking the corridors of Brussles persuading the legislators that TH based lamps should remain acceptable for the foreseeable future.
Many members of the European Parliament feel that they have been conned into passing what has proven , particularly in Germany, to be a very unpopular piece of legislation that has made them unpopular with their electorate.
So lets see how things work out in the USA where the political backlash has happened before the legislation has been put in place. It may be that come the first review of the European legislation, due to start in 2012, is undertaken we may see some retrenchment from the current situation and that incandescent lamps, all be it more efficient Tungsten Halogen ones, will remain with us for a good deal longer.
Kevan Shaw
RE “that incandescent lamps, all be it more efficient Tungsten Halogen ones, will remain with us”
Yes I particularly think the ban on frosted halogen replacements was unnecessary,
even if accepting the faulty regulation ideology itself
RE USA
South Carolina may possibly pass a Bill regarding state exclusion from a federal ban – other state parliaments have done so but then been stopped by the Governors on the basis of lack of local tungsten mining or bulb manufacture, the latter of which anyway would apply to S Carolina…
If nothing else the debate as also being carried out in US Congress at least raises the issue, and will no doubt hot up as Jan 2012 comes nearer.
Only pity is that regulation onset was not Jan 2013, since it would have become more relevant for congress and presidential elections later in 2012!