-by Patrick Dixon
There is the scandal of energy wastage on street lighting, which is responsible for 5% of all electricity use in America and the EU. But this can easily be reduced to only 3% or less, using low energy bulbs, with a payback period of only four years. That means a potential saving 2% of all energy use in all developed nations. 120 million street lights need replacing in the EU alone, plus another 500 million outside lights, at a unit cost of EU275 each and EU275 labour. If we assume that 75% of public lights will be replaced within 20 years, then the market in the EU alone will be EU16.5bn a year. Since all the costs are recovered from reduced electricity bills, there are no financial barriers to carrying out the work.
About the author: Patrick Dixon is Chairman, Global Change Ltd, http://www.globalchange.com
