StreetLightNews

Gloucestershire County has set a fine example by the ‘invest to save’ scheme, where the county’s street lights are dimmed or switched off for part of the night. The scheme is held up as an example of how UK councils can reduce their carbon footprint.

The county estimates it will obtain annual savings of about £210,000 and cut CO2 emissions by 28 percent by dimming and switching off its street lights. Many of the high wattage street lights are dimmed between midnight and 5:30 a.m., and in the rural areas and market towns some of the street lights are turned off during the same period.

Gloucestershire County Council is already generating savings, and when the project of converting the rest of the county’s street lights is completed, it will reduce carbon emissions by 400 tonnes - the equivalent of boiling 26 million kettles.

‘If the ten largest cities in the United States converted to the Amplex street light management system it would correspond to removing 212,000 cars from the roads - in pure CO2 savings.’ This promising perspective is offered by Danish company Amplex which specialises in energy-saving systems to manage street lighting. The company is an example of the many already registered companies participating in the climate-related parallel events that will take place during the COP 15 Conference.

The world is now gearing up for the coming COP 15 Conference in the Bella Center in Copenhagen where the overall goal is to enter into an international post-Kyoto climate agreement, which involves as many countries as possible. The COP 15 Conference is the fifteenth Conference of the Parties under the United Nations’ Climate Change Convention.

For two weeks, from December 7-18 2009, about 12,000 decision makers, NGO’s and journalists from more than 200 different countries will meet to discuss the future course of the planet. If President Barack Obama is going to participate in the conference, the organisers are expecting an even more impressive turnout, thus counting about 18,000 visitors.

Even though the actual conference is closed to the general public, a lot of climate-related parallel and side events, which are accessible to everyone, will take place before, during, and after the conference. The premiere business event parallel to COP 15 is the Bright Green Exhibition & Conference which is hosted by the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) on December 12-13.

The highly profiled exhibition is currently in the process of inviting various environmental advocates. Among these are Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and U2 lead singer Bono. It will be like visiting a gallery of climate solutions, and the idea is to combine elements from art, architecture, showbiz, and trade fairs.

The Danish financial newspaper Borsen writes that the Danish energy optimization specialist Amplex has developed a street light system that can generate energy savings of up to 30 %.

With large cities in mind, such savings can lead to interesting results on both the financial and green accounts. Amplex has already carried out a great deal of projects in Scandinavia, the Middle East and in Asia. At the moment, the company is negotiating to supply an energy saving system to Beijing, a city of 18 million inhabitants.

Amplex has already carried out a pilot project of its street light control and management system on an urban freeway to Beijing, and has achieved energy savings of about 30 %. According to the company, the savings could be even bigger, if the solution is rolled out in the rest of the city.

The street light system works by automatically varying the lighting intensity to suit actual needs in residential and industrial areas as conditions change from sunrise to sunset.

Amplex’ International Project Manager, Jacob Richard Nielsen, explains to Borsen: “Our system can be installed in the course of six to nine months in a metropolis, and even within that time the savings are normally sizeable enough to pay for the system.”

City officials hope to secure significant long-term savings and public safety with the deployment of new energy-efficient street lights. First step is the installation of 50 LED (light-emitting diode) street lights in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighbourhood. Compared to traditional high-pressure sodium light bulbs, LED street lights are about 50 percent more energy-efficient, meaning that they last about two to three times longer and produce a whiter, brighter light which benefits the public safety.

Other than implementing LED lights, the city of San Francisco also demonstrated new smart street light control technologies at a local media event. Smart control technologies can contribute another 20 percent of energy efficiency improvement in addition to the LED lights, the article states.

The new technology can help reduce maintenance costs by allowing the operators to monitor individual street light perfomance, adjust the light intensity level and receive immediate information when lights have failed or are about to fail.

The street lights of San Francisco are owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Company and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, respectively. Both organisations are now working together on testing and evaluating different smart control technologies to better the energy efficiency in San Francisco.

Companies also offering smart control technologies are Power-One, Amplex and Streetlight Intelligence to mention a few.

Throughout the UK, recently there has been a great deal of examples of city councils deciding to turn street lights off in order to cut bills and reduce carbon emissions. However, this move is often criticised by many residents as the safety of people and their property is reduced.

In the light of these moves, it is liberating to read about cities that are proactive in terms of generating energy savings by applying the technology at hand offered by a number of companies  - some of them previously listed on this site.

In Argus, South Wales, three villages have been chosen to pilot a street lighting scheme, which is remotely controlled by the local authority from County Hall in Cwmbran. The scheme uses mobile phone technology and allows County Hall to turn the lights on and off as well as the lights can be dimmed.

Roger Hoggins, the council’s head of operations, is excited about the pilot: “A street light outside a pub could be programmed to stay on until midnight, or dimmed on a residential estate during the night. It gives us a level of flexibility,” he explains. The pilot is expected to generate savings of about $ 80,000 USD on a yearly basis.

In North East Wales, the lights fitted in two Flintshire roads provide a white light and are designed to minimise upward light pollution. The lights are more expensive than the ones they have replaced but are said to have a relatively quick payback due to the energy savings. Flintshire council wants to hear people’s thoughts on the new lights.

The council’s executive member for environment, Tony Sharps, argues that this new system is far better than switching off street lights thus jeopardising people’s safety. Other trial sites are planned this year.

The Canadian company Hybridyne Power Systems and Japanese founded Panasonic have created a street light solution that is powered by both the sun and the wind. The solution features a solar panel on top of the street light pole, and a vertical-axis wind turbine positioned between the lamp’s two poles.

Since the solution is self-powered, it can be installed anywhere without expensive trenching and wiring. The low-cost solution also eliminates the problem with electricity blackouts, and it features an optional wireless video security webcam. Read more about the Kazekamome system here.

In Donnegal County, Ireland, a private company has been contracted to install a ‘hydro light‘ on the footbridge over the River Finn in Ballybofey. The new installation will feature environmental-friendly LED lights powered from batteries that are charged by a 110 watt turbine placed under the bridge. In case of the water levels in the river drop too low for the turbine to be operated, the lights will have a solar panel back up system.

The technology could also be used in a number of places other than rivers. The article reports that the technology could be used in storm sewers or in roof drainage systems on buildings. As a matter of fact, the city council is currently running a number of pilots, thus experimenting with new technologies as part of their programme for renewable and low energy lighting.

What began as a campaign by WWF to get the residents of Sydney to turn off their lights, has grown into one of the world’s biggest climate change initiatives. At 8:30 PM on March 28 2009, people around the world will turn off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour.

In 2007, 2.2 million people took part in the world’s first Earth Hour. In the following year, 50 million people worldwide switched off their lights. Earth Hour 2009 aims to reach more than one billion people around the world, whom by switching off their lights are sending a powerful global message about caring enough about climate changes to take action.

People, communities, and governments are urged to take part in the initiative. By now, more than 375 cities are committed to Earth Hour 2009. This number grows every day as people realize how a simple act, can have a profound impact on affecting change.

It is not only the lights in people’s homes, which will be turned off. Governments and communities take action as well by fading famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House into darkness. Furthermore, streetlights will be dimmed as much as safety allows.

Director General of WWF International Jim Leape explains the importance of support for Earth Hour: “When leaders gather in Copenhagen in December 2009 to negotiate a new deal on climate they must feel that the eyes of the world are upon them. Earth Hour provides an opportunity for the public to send a powerful signal that they are watching and expect action.”

Join the world and take a stand against climate changes - turn off the lights on March 28 2009 between 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM and support Earth Hour 2009.

In a London trial, moving vehicles will generate electricity for street lights, road signs and traffic lights as new ‘green’ speed bumps will capture the kinetic energy of vehicles. The idea is designed by Peter Hughes, an engineer who formerly advised the United Nations on renewable energy sources. If the trial proves successful, the new solution could be rolled out in the rest of Britain.

With a steady flow of traffic, four of these bumps could generate enough electricity to power street lights, road signs, and traffic lights for a mile-long stretch of street. Energy not used immediately can be stored or fed into the national grid.  The ramps are silent, comfortable, and they do not damage your car or waste petrol as you drive over them, Peter Hughes explains.

The article also reports that a nightclub opened in Rotterdam, Netherlands last year, and the club is run partly on energy generated by people dancing. The name of the nightclub? Club WATT.

2009 is the International Year of Astronomy initiated by the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO to help the people of the world rediscover their place in the universe through the day- and night-time sky.

The International Dark Sky-Association (IDA) is promoting the global effort with various educating events and publications throughout 2009.  Check out the cool light pollution animations available from IDA’s webpage to help spreading the message that light pollution can be avoided. The animations can be downloaded for free, so you can help raising awareness of the need to reduce light pollution and to save energy.