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“This will be the largest scale introduction of this type of street lighting technology ever seen in Britain and meets with our aim to make Surrey one of the best places in the world to live.” – Dr Andrew Pove, Surrey County Council leader

“The new energy efficient technology is expected to save more than 60,000 tons of carbon emissions over the next 25 years. It is also set to save Surrey taxpayers at least £12 million over the same period due to lower energy bills and a better contract deal. There will also be a reduction in light pollution because the new lights direct their beam downwards. The individual lights can be remotely controlled from a control centre in Merrow, Guildford. At present, Surrey’s street lights are programmed to come on and go off at set times in the day, with little opportunity to make energy savings. But under the new system, lighting will be increased most where it is needed and reduced where it is not.

Congratulations Surry!

Thanks to a “Private Finance Initiative grant worth £73.9 million from central government”, construction has begun to replace Surry’s 89,000 old streetlights with new environmentally sound lighting solutions. The old Orange light high pressurized sodium lights are being replaced by shielded, remotely controlled lights a part of an electronic grid that notifies technicians if a light needs replacement. The entire construction process will take five years to upgrade the preexisting lights, 70,000 of which will be replaced, whereas 19,000 will be refurbished. Public investment into programmes such as this one, allow future generations to see untainted skies as well as increased energy savings. Whilst the initial upfront cost may deter weary adopters, it’s a long-term investment for the future with substantial monetary savings. An added boon of this lighting overhaul programme lies in the increased standard of living. How? The city becomes marketable as a ‘dark-sky’ city, where tourists and residents reap the benefits of pristine night skies. Whilst it may not seem most people care about the night sky, I guarantee that if you show someone a pristine night sky, they’ll remember it. Perhaps they’ll even yearn for it again. Nonetheless, Starry Night Lights wishes to once again congratulate Surry on securing funding to retrofit all their ever increasing anachronistic lighting solutions.

BRIGHT LIGHTS: Pittsburgh officials worry that a total switch to LED streetlights will make the streets too bright after dark. (Photo: caseywest/Flickr)

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Admonished by University of Pittsburgh’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, Pittsburgh, Penn., may replace its high-pressure sodium lights to light-emitting-diode (LED) lamps this upcoming summer. The University found that LED lamps rank substantially higher in longevity than high-pressure sodium lamps. In addition, LED lamps offer a more environmentally solution to lighting due to their higher watt per lumens ratio. Therefore, considering the overall lifespan of an LED lamp, the LED lamp is clearly the superior choice. The University estimated an annual savings of “$1 million annually in energy costs and $700,000 in maintenance fees” and a C02 emissions cut of approximately “6,818 metric tons per year,” if the city switched to LED lamps. Of course, three caveats emerge: blue tint, light pollution and poor heat dissipation.

First, the article states that concentrated light emitted from LED lamps manifests as a blue-tinted light. These concerns are partially true, although I find it prudent to crush these half-truths. It’s true, some LED lamps produce a blue tint. The concern with the blue tint lies in its colour wavelength it emits: blue is a from High-energy visible light (HEV). Most LED lamps are blue / white ‘cool’ LED lights calibrated to emit ‘white’ light – hence the blue tint. Presently, blue ‘cool’ LED lights rank the highest on the energy efficient scale. True ‘white’ warm LED lamps have been an obstacle to match the efficiency of ‘cool’ LED lights but significant strides have been made to make it a reality.

Second, the article states that that concentrated light emitted from LED lamps may produce light pollution. Following the Rayleigh scattering principle, the scattering of electromagnetic radiation by particles with dimensions much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation, resulting in angular separation of colors and responsible for the reddish color of sunset and the blue of the sky, light emitted by blue / white ‘cool’ LED lights would emit more light pollution due the shortened wavelength and higher frequency of blue on the ROYGBIV or electromagnetic spectrum. Scientifically, it’s absolutely correct. Although there is a way to drastically or eliminate light pollution all together: direct the light downward.

Third, the article states that that concentrated light emitted from LED lamps have poor heat dissipation. Poor heat dissipation is a ubiquitous fact for all high-pressure sodium lights; they waste energy and decrease the lifespan of the bulb. This once shortcoming for high-pressure sodium lights, has now become a laudable advantage. Why? An article back in December of last year mentioned how a town switched to Blue / White cool LED lamps for their traffic lights and found that the lamps can not melt snow due to its cool operating temperature. Fortunately, no drivers were harmed. Perhaps when warm LED lights can match the efficiency of cool LED lights, the public will see quite the contrary.

I’ll admit, LED has its limitations. It’s a burgeoning technology that offers tremendous energy savings and advantages over high-pressure sodium lights once the technology matures.

As of now, Pittsburgh, Penn., is one of the few nationwide cities that does not have a lighting code whatsoever.

“Several subcommittees of the Pittsburgh City Council will develop a better streetlight network and, as the city is one of the few nationwide without a lighting code, will propose a Pittsburgh lighting code. Once these analyses and codes are in place, the city will make a final decision regarding the switch. At any rate, Pittsburgh hopes the research study and task force studies will serve as “a standard tool for municipalities worldwide to evaluate streetlight technologies.” The city hopes to begin installation of new lights later this summer.”

At the very least, Pittsburgh will have a lighting code and given their concern for light pollution and safety, their heart is certainly in the right place.

Americans are removed from their waste because it is placed in some far off landfill. European countries are far too packed so they must learn how to reduce the amount of things that are thrown. In some places, trash is picked up once a week and recyclables once a month. To deal with this many companies have stopped packaging, no more cardboard boxes. Likewise, many people avoid make garbage because they know they will be stuck with it for a little while.

Most of America was built for cars. Although in some of the first big cities like New York and Boston, cars are not exactly easy to get around in partly because of the traffic and partly from the small unaccommodating streets. However, even these cities have been rebuilt and made more accessible for cars. Europe on the other hand was built and settled, long before cars were common. These cities were not built for heavy traffic; most of these old pre-car cities have created trains that can get people almost anywhere in Europe.

In some places in Germany, passive housing goes on for blocks. Passive homes are very strict energy efficient buildings which are not heated, except on very cold days. There is a similar concept in Switzerland called Minergie. There are some high class neighborhoods which do not allow cars in the street. In such a case, the only parking options are far away and could cost an individual yearly the same amount he or she spent on their car.

Source of image: www.sweden.se

The ways in which Europeans are green is less based on conscious decisions and more the result of a lifestyle which is expected because of necessity. However, as much as Europeans are green they still have flaws, for example in Italy it is normal to throw your trash out the window of your car.
This shows that Americans given the opportunity and change in lifestyle could be just as green as Europeans and many would come to appreciate the lifestyle with its added inconveniences.

America seems to consistently lag behind Europe when it comes to being environmentally friendly, yet in America it seems as though everyone is talking about being green; all the companies seem to advertise how green they are. In fact, being green in America is not only seen as being trendy, but as partaking in one of the most current, important issues. Somehow despite all the hype over being green and all the media attention about the effects of being environmentally unconscious, America has much higher carbon emissions than Europe, especially Northern Europe.

This leaves many people wondering how this could be possible, and the answer is not Europeans’ inherent drive to be green and save the environment. It comes from their differing lifestyles, and what their daily routines are shaped around. Not to say they do not care about the environment but their lives are fashioned in a particularly green way.

In each culture certain things are expected, in Sweden, for example being green is like having manners. In Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, trains are the fastest and cheapest way of getting around. Despite the fact that taxis are hybrid, they are only used by people who are not able to ride the trains or bus, or are too snobby.

In American grocery stores it is surprising if you get asked “paper or plastic?”, but in Europe nobody walks around with plastic bags, which in many ways guilts you into doing the same. In Rome, a place American’s tend to associate with glamor, nice apartments usually exclude dryers, microwaves, endless heated water, and air conditioners. In addition, refrigerators and cars in Rome are very small. For example the new Fiat 500 can reach 56 mpg when fueled with diesel.

Americans lives are consumed with things they ‘cannot live without’. Things like two story houses, perfect temperature in their houses and cars, a fridge in the house and garage, SUV’s, and the like. These things have set Americans in a specific path that makes it almost impossible for them to accommodate their ‘needs’ and be green enough to come close to the emission levels in Europe.

In Europe, people are raised in a way so that they cannot help but be green. The apartments have racks for clothes drying and thick wall for temperature control. America is much bigger and roomier than Europe; Americans have been able to get away with massive homes, cars, highways, and even a high percentage of waste because of the sheer size of America. Europeans do not have this luxury. Europeans realize that Europe is small and that many people live there, they are constantly aware of the ways they affect the environment.

Article based on information from http://e360.yale.edu/

Percentages of shared bikes in Europe

U.N officials had hoped that the recent summit meeting for environmental awareness would show that leaders could unite and make real commitments to lowering carbon emissions globally. However this did not prove to be the case, making an agreement in Copenhagen within 70 days seems nearly impossible.

Each of the leaders spoke of all the ways in which their countries would like to lower greenhouse gas emissions but none made any real commitments, especially the key countries such as United States, China, and India. This behavior from the United States and China, which make up for about 40 percent of green house gas emissions was particularly disappointing.

Image found at: www.therenewableplanet.com

President Obama and President Hu Jintao have finally acknowledged the importance of lowering carbon emissions but have yet to lay any concrete plans. President Hu Jintao did talk about various ways in which he would like to steer China into a more environmentally friendly direction: planting forests, reducing dependency on fossil fuels by 15% and the percentage of carbon dioxide tied to national income; all in hopes to make China greener by 2020.

While China’s efforts are commendable they are not enough; they are unclear, unspecific, and not very binding.

President Obama noted the urgency of the situation saying that nations must unite and work for progress toward a greener environment and economy. He said that the developed countries which are accountable for a considerable portion of pollution must commit to lowering greenhouse gas emissions; the poorer developing countries should be helped in their efforts to lower emissions and establish green economies.

Many people felt let down by President Obama’s speech, and had hoped he would take advantage of the situation and make clear the United States’ commitment toward the green movement.

President Obama, did however vocalize his objectives for America’s green movement by promising to make the greatest investment in green energy in American history. In turn he declared that the US would increase its efforts to improve carbon emissions standards for vehicles and make green energy more dominant.

The President of India, Pratibha Patil, was absent of the summit meeting. However India’s environmental minister stated that India also aimed to lower greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel energy.

Some countries did state notable goals for a greener world. Japan declared that its goal for the next decade involved decreasing emissions by 25 percent and committing to help the green movement by contributing financially and technologically.

PHOTO CREDIT : CHINAPICTURES.ORG
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Celebrating the 60th anniversary of People’s Republic of China, China has updated the lighting fixtures of Tiananmen Square, located in the nation’s captial, Beijing. Specific free-from-light-pollution renovations in Tiananmen Square include: its red walls, Memorial, the flag pole, Golden River Bridge, and its elevated View terrace. The installment of high efficiency lights has not only reduced overall power consumption from 210.2KW to 100KW, but has also reduced the pollution of these light fixtures by 20 tons of carbon dioxide emission and 0.8 tons of sulfur dioxide emission. Tiananmen Square isn’t the only landmark that has undergone renovation. Zhengyangmen, another cultural landmark in the southern portion of Tiananmen Square, has installed LED lights free of mercury, to not only protect the historical building but to cut its energy consumption by an estimated 20%.

Monuments, monoliths, mounds, statues, walls, etc. from different cultures exist in our world. Some of these mentioned erected structures may symbolize commemoration, an era in time or art. These structures hold significant or insignificant value to numerous cultures from around the globe. The point being, that whilst a culture may possess a cultural landmark and no doubt feel the urge to ostensibly signify their affinity to it, it should be within reason to nature. Meaning, erecting and directing unnecessary amounts of unshielded light onto a structure to signify the culture’s affinity for it, day and night. A solution: consider the boon of shielded lighting. Shielded lighting can accentuate an object similiar to unshielded lighting without the consequence of sky glow or light pollution and requires less energy to do so compared to an unshielded light fixture. It’s a win-win situation.

For over 2,000 years the natural irregularity of the earth’s axis has resulted in the arctic region moving away from the sun during the arctic summer, which in turn lessened the sun exposure. This process has caused the arctic to now be 600,000 miles farther from the sun than it was in AD 1. Naturally, one would expect this drastic distance to lead to at least a 1 degree Fahrenheit fall in temperature. However, the temperature has risen 2.2 degrees since 1900, and the past decade has been the warmest in two millenniums, going completely against natural expectations.

This among other evidence coming from the arctic climate, has lead researchers to believe that global warming might cancel out the earth’s natural cooling and heating systems. These researchers feel this new information gives them reason to disregard the previous belief that the warming of the climate was a natural occurrence.

Found at http://webpages.csus.edu

This conclusion was made through an experiment where scientist measured the rings in tree trunks and glaciers around the arctic, these natural forms of data all showed the same thing. They showed that in the middle of the 1800’s with the beginning of a new era, specifically the age of industrialization, massive amounts of carbon dioxide were sent into the air, and the warming of the arctic region began.
Evidence shows that the arctic region has heated at three times the rate of the rest of the earth, providing evidence for the theory of arctic amplification.

Arctic amplification states that global warming affects the arctic region more than others. The arctic region has ice sheets which reflect the sun, however global warming causes these ice sheets to melt. Without this reflective ice barrier, vegetation and dark water underneath absorb more of the sun’s rays. The absorbed rays are then sent back into the atmosphere which results in more greenhouse gases being let loose into the environment and increasing global warming.

The rise in temperature has been confirmed by the shrinking glaciers and higher ocean waters. Scientists are unsure how high the oceans will rise but many believe that a 7 ft rise could be likely if greenhouse gases do not decrease.

It is clear through cases such as this and many others that the global warming issue is something that we cannot ignore, nor should it be placed on the back burner. Outside of the disastrous effect of greenhouse gases on the environment, higher global temperatures and the resulting increase in ocean water have been linked to unusual oceanic behaviors including larger tidal waves. Melting glaciers also mean that the habitat of creatures like the polar bear is drastically shrinking, putting their survival at risk.
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Take time to educate yourself about the effects of global warming and finding ways you can help to solve this dilemma. By using environmental friendly lighting fixtures and conserving energy, you are making small improvements in your lifestyle which will have significant positive impacts for our globe.

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“Better and more environmentally friendly lighting will help to make Southampton a safer and greener place. This is a huge investment in the city and let’s not forget all the jobs this should generate for our local economy.” – Councillor Matthew Dean, Executive Member for Environment

A 25 year government funded contract, part of the private finance initiative (PFI), to replace and maintain 250,000 total streetlights in Southampton, Hampshire and West Sussex has been awarded to Tay Valley Lighting. The £225 million government funded contract hopes to upgrade each of the aforementioned cities’ lights with the latest energy efficient equipment within 5 years and maintain them for the remaining 20 years.

“Research shows that better street lighting helps improve road safety, reducing road traffic accidents, as well as reducing crime and the fear of crime and creating safer communities.”

Aside from boosting these cities’ economies by creating new and continued jobs, the private finance initiative (PFI) hopes to accomplish the following:

“* ‘White’ light source used across the City, providing excellent colour rendering and improved visibility at night.
* Reduced light pollution and nuisance glare at night.
* Innovation, up to date energy efficient lighting and electronic control gear equipment, including LED lighting.
* An Intelligent Remote Monitoring Management System (RMMS), enabling central control for monitoring lamp fault detection, and adjustment of lighting levels.
* Variable lighting levels, appropriate to night time activities and the environment.”

These before (above) and after (below) photos show the amount of light pollution that the town of La Patrie, near Mont Mégantic, was able to reduce through the use of low-watt lighting and lampshades that prevent light from rising.
Photograph by: Guillaume Poulin, ASTROlab

Look at the difference between these two photos. It’s absolutely astonishing. Taken as before and after shots of a small village in Quebec called La Patrie, Jacques Blais, mayor of La Patrie, wanted his town to follow the set precedent of Quebec’s Appalachian mountains International Dark-Sky Reserve award in 2007- the very first one, mind you (Flagstaff, AZ is known as the first Dark-Sky City). Thanks to a municipality bylaw, light pollution in the region has either significantly or entirely diminished. Starry Night Lights applauds La Patrie’s efforts for not only reducing light pollution, but setting a precedent for the region and the world.

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Nearly ten years ago, roughly 500 houses in California utilized solar power. Today, approximately 50,000 homes utilize solar power. Surprisingly, San Diego leads both L.A. and San Francisco in rooftop solar power. Even more impressive, the small city called Nevada City in Central California, boasts nearly a 1 to 5 ratio of households utilizing solar energy. Even with these aforementioned figures, Solar Energy still only accounts for about 1% of the nation’s energy. Apparently, utilities in California fear the business aspect of solar power:

“And even in solar-friendly California, it is hampered by the lack of a robust feed-in tariff, such as the one in Germany, which would allow homeowners who install extra capacity to sell their electricity back to utilities at a favorable rate.

AB 920, a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) to do just that, is fiercely opposed by utilities and has so far failed to garner enough support for passage — not to mention backing by Schwarzenegger.”

Presently, Vote Solar Initiative, a San Francisco group a bill, hopes to lobby for a bill to remove the cap on allocated funds available to consumers in order to reduce their bills via selling electricity back to the utility companies. This bill has past in the legislature and awaits further approval in the state senate.