Carbon Cutout

Installing LED lights is having an effect on reducing carbon emissions.  Some claim that energy efficiency gains are more important than changing to renewable energy when it comes to cutting down on greenhouse gases.  According to an article from the BBC, the move to more efficient appliances, along with the shift to LED, is responsible for a reduction in energy demand that is greater than the amount saved by wind and solar.

Renewables vs efficiency gains

Calculations made by an environmental website called Carbon Brief concludes that renewable energy replaced 95 terawatt hours generated by fossil fuels.  But they also find that increased energy efficiency over the same period cut demand for power by 103 terawatts.

Clear win-win

A healthy percentage of that increased energy efficiency is because of the uptake of LED lighting. It’s likely that the biggest effect comes from the changeover to LED in large scale commercial lighting. The LED revolution is the quiet achiever in this controversial space. No-one argues that efficiency is pointless or that it interferes with the smooth running of the electricity grid. So it’s a clear win-win for consumers and environmentalists. As Joanne Wade from the Association for Conservation of Energy says: “The huge improvement in energy efficiency tends to be completely ignored. People haven’t noticed it because if efficiency improves, they are still able to have the energy services that they want.”

Changing to LED is the contribution to reducing carbon that anyone and everyone can make.