IGBT in Fluorescent Lamps

It is now well-known that the IGBT enabled introduction of cost effective and reliable compact fluorescent lamps. This allowed the replacement of incandescent bulbs to provide a typical power savings of 45 watts for a 60 watt bulb. Based upon this power savings, the total reduction of electricity power consumption in the U.S. and the world between 1990 and 2010 is very noticeable. The reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in pounds per year due to this reduced electricity power consumption can be computed by multiplying the data in these figures by rate of carbon dioxide emission per kWh of electricity generated by typical power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency has analyzed the carbon dioxide emission from various types of power plants. Electricity is generated mostly (51 percent) from Coal-fired power plants in the United States. Unfortunately, the carbon dioxide emission from coal-fired power plants is the highest among the power generation options. The average carbon dioxide emission per kWh generated in the U.S. is 1.350 pounds. This value will therefore be used in the computation of carbon dioxide emission reductions resulting from IGBT-enabled compact fluorescent lamps. The reduction of carbon dioxide emissions due to the availability of IGBT-based compact fluorescent lamps obtained by multiplying the energy savings per year in kWh by 1.35 pounds/kWh.