Energy consumption and environmental and economic impact of lighting: The current situation

Abstract

Artificial light sources play an indispensable role to daily life of any human being. Electrical light sources are responsible for an energy consumption of around 1/6 to 1/5 of the worldwide electricity production. Although classic lighting technologies are now mature, the luminous efficiency of the light sources together with their quality of light have not quite reached their limits: There is still room for innovation. Today, there are many opportunities for enhancing not only the efficiency and reliability of lighting systems but also improving the quality of light as seen by the end user. Furthermore, currently the next revolution in lighting is taking place: Solid State Lighting (SSL). In the long-term SSL, inorganic and organic light emitting diodes are now replacing massively legacy technologies. In fact, LEDs, with a continuous growth of their luminous efficiencies, establish themselves as breakthrough solutions.