Ask for a harbour mountain-view room and you can watch seaplanes take off from Coal Harbour or see the first streaks of light hit the snow-capped North Shore mountains as you sip your morning coffee.

BBC: Business trip: Vancouver

The high-intensity light can dazzle pilots during take-off and landing when shone at aircraft.

BBC: Laser pens 'threaten Gatwick passenger safety'

According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the high intensity light can dazzle pilots during the crucial phases of take-off and landing.

BBC: Man gets 30 months in prison for shining laser at plane

But the crash of a Turkish Airlines' DC-10 10 minutes after take-off from Paris in March 1974 put the cargo door problems in a whole new light.

BBC: Dreamliner trouble: A brief history of airliner problems

Just as the CFL light bulb market is poised to take off in a bigger way than ever, bulbs that tap rival light-emitting-diode technology, potentially even cheaper than CFL, are on the rise.

FORBES: Boom At Hand, TCP's Ellis Yan Faces New "Green" Bulb Battle

The technology was slow to take off, as some cities found it difficult to integrate preemption with antiquated traffic-light controllers.

FORBES: Greening the Traffic Lights