Are LED’s About to Take Over the World?
Huffington Post UK, March 11, 2015
A few months ago you could have asked me what an LED (light emitting diodes) was and I would have looked at you with a slightly blank, bewildered expression. I mean, I’d heard the word thrown around but I couldn’t recall a definition.
In fact, the first LED light was produced in 1962. Since their invention they have been used in homes, offices, cars and even traffic signals.
Efforts in environmentalism have been around for hundreds of years but in recent times there has been a shift into discussing new issues such as global warming, energy efficiency and sustainability.
The European Commission has also recently announced that it may ban halogen bulbs as early as next year as part of their drive on energy efficiency which means LED’s and CFL’s (compact fluorescent lamps) are set to become even more widespread.
But who is this drive aimed at? Is it for ordinary people, like you and I? Surely businesses, companies and corporations should also be expected to follow suit.
Aside from the countless emails I receive offering me eco-friendly dog food (yes, it’s a thing) I wondered whether companies were getting in on the action and trying their hand at energy-efficiency. I wanted to know whether energy efficiency, and in particular these little LED’s I’d started hearing about, were about to take over the world.
Attractions
The Empire State Building, in America, underwent a $550 million renovation in 2010, with $120 million that went into transforming the building into an energy-efficient and eco-friendly construction. Then, in 2012 a computer-driven LED lighting system was installed – capable of displaying 16 million colours.