June 1, 2007, Birmingham, England--Birmingham will become the center of the ongoing 'green' debate as it hosts euroLED 2007 (on June 6th and 7th), Europe's largest conference dedicated to a very small technology--LEDs--a lighting alternative that could save the United Kingdom and the world millions of pounds in energy usage and significantly reduce our carbon footprint.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) use significantly less energy than traditional lighting methods, such as the incandescent light bulb. At euroLED 2007, Geoff Archenhold of Birmingham's Aston Science Park, and Conference Chair of the LED showcase event, will oversee the session "LEDs: The Greener Alternative," where the environmental impact of this breakthrough technology will be debated by an international panel.
"If all domestic 60 W light bulbs were replaced with LED-based light sources, the amount of electricity used in residential lighting today could be reduced by up to 80%--the equivalent of eliminating the need for approximately two nuclear power stations," said Archenhold. "And the applications of LED lighting are not just in the home: LEDs are replacing lighting in retail outlets, offices, in our cars and on our streets and roads. Energy production for all types of illumination around the world creates over 900 million tons of CO2 gas and represents 19% of all electrical energy used worldwide. We estimate that this figure could be reduced by 300 million tons if LEDs were used for all general lighting purposes."
Birmingham is already playing a key role in the development of alternative light sources with the Solid State Lighting Research Centre (SSLRC) based at the Aston Science Park, which provides an independent, end-to-end product development and testing service for companies from the West Midlands and all over the world.
For more information, visit www.euroled.org.