Science's Influence On The Environment

Since the invention of the light bulb by Edison in 1879, humans have been able to light their homes using electricity rather than burning fuels such as oil or gas. However, the style of light bulb that Edison invented (the incandescent light bulb) is very inefficient as only 10% of the energy from the electricity is converted to light; the rest is lost as heat1. Not only does all this wasted electricity cost people a lot of money, it also damages the environment as fossil fuels must be burned to produce the electricity. It has therefore been a challenge for scientists to produce a style of light bulb that is more efficient, i.e. uses a small amount of electricity to produce a great deal of light.

2. Explanation of how the science works to

When I tested our bulbs at home, I found that whereas the incandescent bulbs reach their full brightness immediately, the CFLs took between 30 seconds and 2 minutes to reach full brightness. It is therefore not particularly effective to use CFLs in cupboards that you only need to light up for a few seconds while you open them, because you need to keep the bulb switched on for so much longer before you can see properly.
3a. Discussion and Evaluation of how the application of science has a wider implication on the environment
CFLs can have both positive and negative effects on the environment. On the positive side, they reduce the amount of energy that we use and therefore the amount of fossil fuels that we burn. Given that 20% of the energy we use in our homes is for lighting, if everybody started using CFLs we could reduce the amount of energy we need for our homes by about 16%6.

There is however, a major disadvantage to the environment of using CFLs; they contain mercury. When broken, the mercury can leak out of CFLs into soil or be released into the air we breathe7. Mercury is toxic to humans and can lead to numerous physical and neurological health