The United States is joining an international coalition to light up the world with 10 billion LED light bulbs in an effort to reduce wasted energy.
The U.S. will join 13 countries and the European Commission in the Global Lighting Challenge. The challenge, announced in Paris Monday, seeks to spread the use of the more energy-efficient light bulbs around the world.
The Energy Department will be promoting light-emitting diode use in the U.S., including investing in research and development and participating in public-private partnerships. The department says its activities will help lower costs and make LED light bulbs more accessible to the average consumer.
In a statement released Monday, the department announced it would work with cities and towns across the country to replace 1.5 million incandescent outdoor light bulbs with LED light bulbs. The department aims to cover 750 million square feet of parking spaces with light from LED light bulbs through a program started in 2012.
In addition, the department’s Interior Lighting Campaign seeks to replace a million office lights with LED bulbs by May.
According to the department, lighting accounts for 15 percent of global energy use and 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
LED bulbs cut down on the amount of energy needed to provide a similar amount of light as incandescent bulbs.
If the international coalition is successful in promoting LED and other efficient lighting systems, carbon dioxide emissions could be cut 800 million metric tons per year, according to the government. That’s the equivalent of 684 coal-fired power plants.
The global demand for lighting is expected to increase in coming decades as urbanization increases around the world, according to the department. Demand for lighting could rise 50 percent by 2030.
“If we accelerate the global transition to advanced lighting, such as LEDs, through campaigns like the Global Lighting Challenge, we have the ability to cut electricity consumption from lighting in half over that same time period,” the department reported. “That’s 50 percent more light, using 50 percent less electricity.”
