4.3 Patent profile fluorescent tube lighting 1971-1999
Figure 6 shows the collection of patents studied. From the patent abstracts it was possible
to deduce the main benefits of each innovation. The authors assessed the extent to which
the innovation results in changes in quantities of:
material used per unit service;
energy used per unit service;
hazardous substances emitted to air soil and water;
waste not Eco-efficiently recycled;
scarce or depleting resources used;
functional units in the product.
Each potential environmental ‘value’ improvement described in the patent was marked with
an X.
From the table it is possible to observe a shift in innovation focus.
Until the mid ‘80s the patents mainly record:
the optimisation of the bulbs production: (column 1: reduction in the mass of materials
used);
increasing competitive performance (column 6: Longer lamp lives are classified under
‘increased functional units in the product’, column 2: increasing energy efficiency).
From 1985 onwards the patents start to record developments in:
recycling processes (column 4):
reducing toxicity (column 3).
There were no innovations listed that specifically avoid the use of scarce or depleting
resources (column 5).
Figure 6: shows the patent collection and the potential environmental improvements resulting from
each.