CFL bulbs cost about 20 times more than a cheap incandescent. Assuming competitive market forces, this indicates the material acquisition, energy, and labor to create these wonders is roughly 20 times that of an incandescent. Material acquisition, energy input, and bringing in a labor force to build stuff all equal pollution. It seems with CFLS, like hybrid cars (to some extent), we are just doing more of the polluting up front and at the end of life. I suppose that's fine, IF they last 20+ times longer AND very few break during shipping, installation, and infant mortality. Maybe the newest generation of bulbs are better, but I've found about half of the CFLs I've bought over the past ten years have not lasted 5 years (infant mortality being the big one). Is it fair to say that a typical incandescent bulb under average household use lasts maybe a year and a half? I'd love to find some data showing how long a CFL MUST last to outweigh the process pollution (minus energy saved).
I'm not sure, but I think I'm a skeptic...
