Lest you get involved in all the hype, the future of lighting is not with CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) but rather with LED. The problem is that the future is a long way away.
The New York Times has a nice little piece from 9/24/08 about a competition to create an affordable LED bulb. What's so great about LED? Well according to the Times:
If LED lighting eventually takes off, this could be a big deal. According to the Department of Energy, if every socket in the United States that now had a 60-watt bulb switched to an LED equivalent, the country would save 34 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, or enough to light Las Vegas for two years (no jokes about whether it might be better to keep it dark).
Need some cash anyone? Oh, did I forget to mention it's a 10 Million Dollar award? Seriously, get inventing!