LED lights
are today
everybody's choice.
Before the
invention of electricity, when fossil fuel was the only source for light and
warmth, atmosphere was continuously being polluted by the burning of fossil
fuels. However, the world was so sparsely populated in those days that the
lighting technologies posed no threat to the environment. The arrival of
electricity changed things a lot, but today even incandescent bulbs, which were
the best thing that could have happened to the world when it was first
invented, are way below fluorescent lights and
LED lights in the evolutionary scale.
Fluorescent
lights which work by heating trapped gas use only less than half the amount of
energy as incandescent lights which use the technology of passing current through
a filament. A fluorescent bulb on an average lasts about 10 times as long as an
incandescent bulb as well. But fluorescent lights are an environmental threat
because the amount of mercury contained in one fluorescent bulb is enough to
pollute about 2000 gallons of liquid. And though it lasts longer than
incandescent lights, they last only an average of 1000 hours and cannot compare
with
LED lights
that could
last anything from 50,000 to 100,000 hours.
The number
of discarded fluorescent lights is steadily increasing in garbage dumps and the
mercury seeping down from it will be large enough to pollute groundwater after
a stage. As such, though fluorescent lights are considered better than
incandescent lights for energy efficiency and thus for reducing carbon
footprints, it poses its own set of hazards.
LED lights
are the
answer to all these problems. Besides lasting long, it consumes only about
one-tenth the energy consumed by incandescent lights.
LED lights also do not contain any hazardous
substances like mercury, and are fully environment friendly. Further, the light
intensity of LED bulb clusters is such that it is possible to make smaller, low
profile vehicle lights using
LED
lights. When smaller lights are mounted on the roof of the
vehicles, lesser energy is required to propel the car forward as there is less
difficulty in overcoming air drag. This too helps in energy saving and reduces
carbon emissions.
Governments
of various countries and states are making a concerted effort to transition
into
LED lights
to reduce
carbon footprint by improved energy efficiency.
Australia
has made a long term plan to raise its energy standards by limiting the use of
incandescent bulbs from 2009 onwards. The attempt is not to completely
transition to
LED
lights at this stage but to switch to both fluorescent lights and
LED lights. It is
believed that by the shift the country will be able to reduce about 800,000
tons of emissions within three years starting from 2009.
Venezuela and Cuba are also
among countries that are planning a gradual transition from incandescent lights
into
LED lights. The
state of New Jersey
is planning a phased removal of incandescent lights from government building. A
similar plan is on the anvil in the state of California also where it is planned to stop
the usage of incandescent lights altogether.
Extreme
Electrical Dynamics is a one-stop shop for
LED
lights and many other items like Car Strobes, Flashlights, Sirens,
Deck Lights, Police Lights, etc. Please visit the site for more details of
various items available - http://www.extremetacticaldynamics.com/