GE's efficient incandescent bulb to match compact fluorescents

GE has developed a high-efficiency incandescent lamp which the lighting powerhouse said will eventually deliver the same environmental benefits as compact fluorescent lamps.

The GE Consumer and Industrials lighting division last week announced that it intends to market the high-efficiency lamps by 2010.

Incandescent bulbs, invented by GE founder Thomas Edison, consume more electricity than compact fluorescent bulbs for the same light output. As people seek to lower their energy consumption, large-scale efforts to replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescence are taking place all the time.

Last week, for example, Yahoo launched a Web site called 18seconds.org to encourage people to change to compact fluorescent bulbs--a task that takes 18 seconds. The site shows a tally of dollars saved and amount of carbon dioxide reduced as a result of replaced bulbs. Retail giant Wal-Mart also participated in the program as part of its own promotion of compact fluorescents.

GE's high-efficiency incandescent (HEI) lamps incorporates new materials developed by the the company.

Initially the company expects that the new technology will be used to replace 40 to 100 Watt household incandescent light bulbs but it can be applied to other incandescent types as well.

The company intends to first make bulbs twice as efficient at 30 lumens per watt as they are now. Ultimately, GE said that the high-efficiency lamps will be four times as efficient as current incandescent bulbs and comparable to compact fluorescent lamps.

The investment in high-efficiency lighting reflects GE's Ecomagination initiative to make money in energy efficiency and technologies to conserve natural resources.

GE said the high-efficiency incandescent bulbs are aimed at meeting the objectives of the European commission's energy efficiency action plan, which aims reduce Europe's energy consumption 20 percent by the year 2020.