lighting expert

Check out the light emerging from these Dublin landmarks

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A PHYSICS PROFESSOR at Trinity College Dublin is hoping to start a discussion about the amount of light pollution produced in Ireland.

Professor Brian Espey and his colleagues measured light falling on the ground at locations away from directly-illuminated areas (such as those with streetlights), and recorded the light scattered back onto the ground from the air.

Measurements were taken on clear nights over a 1,000 square km area from Dublin City Centre southwards into the Wicklow Hills.

Ireland_1995_2010_animatedSource: Trinity College Dublin

Unsurprisingly, light from Dublin city dominates the natural sky background even in heritage sites such as Glendalough, some 45 km away – as well as other parts of the Wicklow Mountains National Park.

Espey and his team estimates that over 2.2 GWh (2.2 million “units”) of electricity is “wasted” in providing diffuse illumination of areas such as back gardens, public parks, woods and mountains, at a cost of about €300,000 annually.

Scaled up by the light emission of other Irish cities, this amounts to a cost of 3.3 GWh, or an annual burden of €460,000, but these measurements underestimate the true figures as light escaping directly to space has not been factored in.

“When we look at images from the International Space Station, such as those tweeted by Commander Chris Hadfield when he flew over Ireland, we generally do not think that the light that a few astronauts see at 400 km above the Earth is just a small sample of the total that is outgoing to space, never to return,” Espey stated.

Public lighting accounts for about 15% to 35% of a local authority’s energy use.

According to research carried out by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the 420,000 or so streetlights in Ireland use a total of 205 GWh of electricity annually, which costs €29 million and produces 110,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

 

Espey’s team said as much as 20-30% of this energy “could be wasted through poorly-designed or inefficient lighting and the illumination of areas where light is not needed”.

The professor said this is also negatively impacting the environment an people’s health.

Humans – just like other animals and plants – have been conditioned over millions of years to rely on circadian rhythms, which are controlled by natural light-dark, day-night transitions. If the environment remains brightly lit then the night-time mode of repair and replenishment cannot occur as is required, and potentially harmful free radicals build up in our systems.

Espey said local authorities “are aware of light waste and pollution, but there is still room for improvement and more could embrace improved light pollution controls as part of their environmental agenda”.

He noted that most public lighting in Ireland is “unmetered and uses relatively old technology”, but said the push towards newer lighting types such as LED technology “could see the situation improve in the medium term”.

Espey added that these issues should be looked at in detail “before the next cycle of building commences”.

Security for the public

A spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said the biggest source of light pollution is from low pressure sodium lights of which DCC uses about 22,000. It is proposed to replace all of these lights over the next few years with LED lighting.

This will have a big impact on light pollution. The city has approximately 45,000 lights and the remaining 23,000 lights do not have the same light polluting effect as the low pressure sodium [lights]. So, as far as light pollution is concerned, the council has a plan in place to reduce a large amount of the light pollution problem.

She noted that street lights affords city residents a ”sense of security”, adding: “LED lighting is more efficient at delivering light to where it is required, but this light is also reflected back up into the sky and will also cause light pollution. So even the most efficient of lighting schemes will produce some light pollution.”

DCC spends approximately €3.6 million per year on energy supplied to street lights. The move to LED technology, which is expected to be completed in about five years, will decrease this expenditure by 50%.

Espey will present his findings in public during next week’s Trinity Week – the theme of which is ‘light’. More information is available here. 

 

Source: The Journal.ie

 

Pollution has been causing springtime to come early

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Artificial lighting has been causing springtime to come early, with trees bursting into leaf a week earlier in areas with more light pollution, scientists have found.

Pollution has been causing springtime to come early

Researchers at the University of Exeter compared the amount of artificial night-time light across the country and the date at which new leaves first appeared on trees such as sycamore, oak, ash and beech.

The research drew on “citizen science” data from the Woodland Trust, which asks members of the public to record the signs of the changing seasons, such as bud-burst, in its Nature’s Calendar scheme.

Couple sitting on a hill in London
(Philip Toscano/PA)

Comparing 13 years of data about when the buds were bursting with satellite images of artificial lighting, the researchers found the key sign of spring was occurring up to 7.5 days earlier in brighter areas, with the effect larger in later-budding trees.

Excluding large urban areas from the analysis showed the advance of spring was even more pronounced, the research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found.

This showed the early bud bursting was not simply down to the “heat-island” effect in which cities are slightly warmer than the surrounding areas.

The way the effect was seen across all areas also suggests it is not down to temperature rises, according to the study, which was a collaboration between the university and independent environmental consultants Spalding Associates, in Truro, Cornwall.

Tulips
(Steve Helber/AP)

The scientists raised concerns that the impact of artificial night-time lighting – such as street lights – on trees would have a knock-on effect on other wildlife.

Winter moths, which feed on emerging oak leaves, could be affected, which in turn could have an impact on birds which feed on them.

Dr Kate Lewthwaite, Woodland Trust citizen science manager, said: “Analysis of Nature’s Calendar data suggests that increased urbanisation is continuing to put pressure on the natural world, in ways that we could not have foreseen.

“As the seasons become less and less predictable, our native wildlife may struggle to keep up with fluctuations that affect habitats and food sources.

“Hopefully this research will lead to new thinking on how to tackle such issues, and will help influence future development decisions.”

 

Source: Irish Examiner, to read click here.

 

GE introduces their new line of connected LED bulbs

ICAN Acoustics

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GE has launched a new line of connected LED lamps aimed at retail store home-automation. The C by GE line offers 2 different products – the C-Life meant for common areas and the C-Sleep which is more suitable to illuminate bedrooms and induce sleep. As GE’s Global Leader of Commercial Marketing Steven Pepe explains,

“We liked the play on ‘see.’ Light should feel optimistic. Bad lighting kills a room’s vibe or a person’s mood. We want our lights to do the opposite.”

ne of the highlights of GE’s new line of affordable connected LED bulbs is the C-Sleep. The company introduced the products as lighting that works according to the user’s mood. According to the manufacturer, the C-Sleep line, designed to be used in bedrooms can help the body to regulate the production of melatonin, the hormone that induces to sleep.

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The great advantage of the new GE lamps, especially when compared with the Philips Hue, is that they are simpler to use and cheaper. Both C-Life and the C-Sleep can be controlled directly from a smartphone via Bluetooth and, unlike Hue, does not offer a wide variety of colors that can light up a room. In the control app’s settings, you can choose variations in the light temperature ranging from 2,000 to 7,000 Kelvin. The spectrum is very wide and must meet the needs of those who need more obscure environments, or widely lit rooms from simple commands in the phone app.

The C-Life and C-Sleep lamps will hit the markets in the United States in January 2016, at the very competitive price of $50. The prices are quite low compared to other smart lamps, but then again, that’s what they promised to differ in.