LED technology, the bulb of the future

Forget large scale renewable energy solutions. It’s time to think smaller. It’s time to think about replacing our energy-hungry, wasteful light bulbs for a more efficient, longer lasting bulb.

The advancements in LED (light-emitting-diode) technology will not only change the way our world uses light, but also sees light. LED technology is certainly not the newest innovation on the market. In fact, LED technology has been around since the 1960’s. Most recently, it has been used in digital clocks, watches, remote controls and other digital devices. Perhaps its greatest contribution, however, will be in the light bulb.

According to a paper released this week by two professors at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the advantages of an LED light bulb far exceed those of the traditional incandescent light bulb. The paper, which weighs the hypothetical benefits of a complete revolution to LED bulbs over a ten year time period, emphasizes the electrical, financial, and environmental significance of switching to LED technology.

For one, the world’s total electrical energy consumption could be reduced by terawatt hours—equivalent to trillion of watts. Financially, the world could expect to save more than $1.83 trillion and environmentally, carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by 10.68 gigatons. Additionally, crude oil could be reduced by 962 million barrels. Overall, the world could expect an increase of 2,000 percent efficiency in bulbs by switching from the incandescent bulb to the LED bulbs.

Besides the obvious statistical improvements LED bulbs create, they also offer a new way to see the world. LED provides a new spectra of light, uncommon to the standard bulb. Currently, with light bulbs, we see the world in black and white, on and off. Traditional bulbs offer a variance in brightness, but not color. LED potentially offers a variance of hue and color by using red, blue, and green LED bulbs to generate a customizable white light. Schubert, one of the two professors who published the report, envisions lights that emulate the sun’s qualities that could offer agricultural and lifestyle innovations. Society can expect to observe the world in a whole new light.

A large revolution is in order for a small change.