You are here: Information & Resources » Fluorescent Tubes » Compact Fluorescent Lamps » Embodied Energy

Embodied Energy

CFLs have been criticized as having a higher embodied energy than incandescents. Given the significantly longer average life of CFLs, however, their embodied energy would have to be huge to not be outweighed by their operational energy savings.

Compact fluorescents, being more complex, necessarily require more energy to manufacture than incandescent lamps. They contain slightly more glass, plus a number of integrated circuits and discrete electronic components. In addition, while incandescents are manufactured in many countries, nearly all CFLs are made in China; thus shipping must be included in any calculation of embodied energy. The energy savings calculations published by manufacturers and governments do not include embodied energy; therefore, the energy savings cannot be as great as claimed. However, it should be noted that no manufacturer to this date has released any information on embodied energy, nor have governments published such information.

Given the complexity of determining calculations like “embodied energy”, the economic system of market prices can be used to answer the topic. The higher price of CFLs to the consumer embodies all the extra manufacturing costs (raw materials + energy), as well as shipping costs from China and the like. The lower price of incandescent bulbs reflect their lower manufacturing costs (materials + energy) and possibly shorter shipping routes if they are produced locally. In the absence of subsidies or other distortions, a comparison of price of the bulb plus the price of electricity for a CFL vs. that for an incandescent will give a result.

The overall cheaper of the two should reflect what is overall more economically efficient, which is synonymous with what is more efficient in terms of overall use of materials and energy. A big advantage is that the overall least costly option can easily generate widespread voluntary adoption by the public since it results in saving money.