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ET Think turf - Global warming & future of lighting
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With Global Warming becoming a cause for concern for countries around the globe, and issues among others such as Lighting, among other sources of energy are drawing interests. With government mandates still not in place, India is lagging far behind in the march towards "saving our planet". With a hope to bring about a change and seriously addressing this issue we aim at bringing the best minds under one roof at this "need of the hour”.
Efficient lighting is such an obviously good idea to have a dramatic impact on global warming, if only we would adopt it. The low-energy light bulb and other efficient lighting systems could prevent a cumulative total of 16 billion tons of carbon from being added to the world's atmosphere over the next 25 years, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.
Artificial light accounts for almost one-fifth of the world's electricity consumption, substantially more than the output of all the nuclear power stations in the world. It generates around 1.9 billion tons worth of carbon a year, equivalent to nearly three quarters of the carbon coming from the exhaust of all the cars and light vehicles in the world.
Within 25 years, the global demand for artificial light is projected to be almost twice today's level as the developing world moves towards Western living standards. The average American family uses 10 times more artificial light than a Chinese home and more than 30 times as much as an Indian home. And there are 1.6 billion people in the world with no access to electricity at all.
The amount of carbon coming from standard light bulbs could rise to three billion tons a year. "Without rapid action, the amount of energy used for lighting will be 80 per cent higher in 2030 than today .However, if we simply make better use of today's efficient lighting technologies and techniques, global lighting energy demand need be no greater at that time."
It is for the governments to take the lead through better regulation of the market and by including lighting systems in the building codes.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON LIGHTING
19% of the world’s electricity is consumed by lighting. By switching to energy efficient lighting the results would include 555 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions; more than 1560 million fewer barrels of oil each year; the annual output of 530 medium sized power stations.
27% of the total power consumption in India is through lighting.
The market size for CFLs bulbs is 100 million and the market is witnessing a growth rate of 30%. The bulb which initially costed Rs 600 now costs Rs 100-110. This shows the rising demand for CFLs in India.
The new generation CFL bulbs last an average of six years and each one provides a saving of 80% in energy consumed. That’s a saving of INR 500 and 84 kilos of CO2 per lamp per year
The Indian lighting arena will be ruled by the usage of CFLs. LEDs( Light emitting diodes) are currently being used for decorative purposes, signage lighting, city beautification. It will take 4-5 years internationally to adopt LEDs for functional use
An upcoming trend in lighting is the rise in the global usage of CDM lamps. CDM, lamps are made in Europe currently.
Energy saving bulbs use less mercury than incandescent lamps if we take into account the entire lifetime of the product, including the energy needed to be generated to operate the bulb.
Energy efficient lighting can help resolve a lot of these issues. Also, the future of lighting is also extremely crucial and impacts all of us, the inefficient incandescent bulb which wastes 90% of the energy in heating will give way to more efficient lighting methods like solid state lighting.
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