5 Investment Themes for 2009 (& Firms That Should Benefit) #3: CFL Sales Should Soar Higher

By admin | October 29, 2008

Editor’s Note: In keeping with its mission to be solely a new source, this EnergyTechStocks.com Special Report is presented for information purposes only.

Posted: October 29, 2008

If, as expected, the global recession bites deep next year, more and more businesses and homeowners can be expected to save money by saving energy. Probably the easiest, most cost effective thing to do is to switch to compact fluorescent lighting (CFL), which can save up to $30 per bulb over its lifetime. Throw in the fact that 27 governments have so far decided to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs by as early as 2010 (with a U.S. ban scheduled to take effect starting in 2012), and you’ve got the making for a surge in CFL sales in 2009.

Make that a “further” surge. According to the environmental group Worldwatch Institute, sales of CFLs in the U.S. between 2001 and 2004 grew more than 340%. In 2007 CFLs represented 20% of total U.S. lighting sales vs. less than 1% in 2001.

So while CFLs have already come a long way, they’ve got a lot farther to go. An even more efficient form of lighting – lighting-emitting diode or LED – is breathing down its neck, but LEDs are still very expensive and so from 2009 until about 2012 CFL sales should keep setting records. Even though CFLs raise a serious environmental concern (they contain mercury), with Washington expected to focus on creating a national carbon trading market, there could a rush to buy CFLs by hundreds of thousands of large and small businesses in need of reducing their carbon footprint.

Approximately 85% of CFL manufacturing is in China. One leading Chinese CFL manufacturer is Foshan Electrical and Lighting Co. Ltd. Another is Zhejiang Yankon Group Co. Ltd. An Indian company that trades locally, Phoenix Lamps Ltd., also is a big CFL manufacturer.

A far better known company whose shares are widely available is Dutch lighting giant Philips. While Philips is a lot more than lighting products, it’s also a leader in LED development, thus providing investors with a “transitional company” to the future of lighting. General Electric is another such transitional company, although with GE, investors are buying an even more diversified firm than Philips.

For Parts 1 and 2 of this series please go to:

5 Investment Themes for 2009 (& Firms That Should Benefit) #1: Wind Power Should Stay Strong

5 Investment Themes for 2009 (& Firms That Should Benefit) #2:145,000+ Miles Of HV Wire to String

For more on CFLs please see:

As U.S. Congress Debates Ban on Incandescent Light Bulbs, Technology Already Challenging Heir Apparent

Coming tomorrow, October 30, in Part 4 of “5 Themes for 2009”—hot air rises