Using RGB LEDs rather than white LEDs could drop power needs by 85 per cent when compared to today's backlighting, and adding ambient light sensors that adjust overall light output in relation to room lighting could drop needed power even further.
Lighting: according to Penning de Vries: "20 per cent of electricity produced globally is used for lighting; changing from incandescent lamps to compact flourescent [CFL] or tube lights [TL] can save 80 per cent of this."
"It's time to phase out Edison's invention," he said.
CFL technology remains rather primitive, and much could be accomplished by adding smart circuitry to their design, including such niceties as "compatibility with conventional phase-cut dimmer controls."
LED lighting offers comparable efficiency gains, and has the added benefits of long life (up to 30,000 hours) and low voltage requirements. Unfortunately, as Penning de Vries noted, LED lighting is still far too expensive for conventional use, and there are still color-temperature hurdles to overcome.
Cars: A full 50 per cent of all liquid fuel goes to transport, according to Penning de Vries - and that's despite the fact that fuel consumption per-car has decreased by 35 per cent over the past 30 years.
The IEA projects that "light-duty vehicles" - cars - could achieve another 50 per cent reduction by 2030 using smarter electronic control, more-efficient hybrids, and such driving aids as "adaptive cruise control using radar and lane-change sensors."
Electrical cars are all well and good, said Penning de Vries, but the source of their electricity can make them less efficient than even hybrid vehicles. A fully electric car that gets its juice from a coal-fired power plant has worse "cradle to cradle" energy efficiency than a hybrid, he said.
He also pointed out that while hybrid cars grab the headlines there are a multitude of electronic improvements yet to be made in conventional cars, such as moving from hydraulic to electrical systems in such components as transmissions and power steering, and installing electronic sensors in tires to monitor under-inflation. These, he claimed, account for "around five per cent of total motoring energy loss in the US."
Weight reduction could also benefit from moving all automotive wiring to a digital-network model. Penning de Vries said that a current "high-end" car's wiring harness can weigh between 40 to 80Kg. Since every 50Kg of weight reduction can save a tenth of a liter of fuel for every 100Km driven, weight-reduction efficiencies could add up quickly.
In conclusion, Penning de Vries said that: "The coming decades will see IC innovation with much greater focus on 'leaner and greener' applications. We will witness an evolution from low power for long battery life to low overall power consumption.
"The semiconductor industry - as other industries - can and will play its part in the drive to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions, and help reduce climate change."
And, of course, the industry will also design, manufacture, and sell a lot of new semiconductor-based products. ®
Green semiconductor advice goes beyond the chip
COMMENTS
Don't buy cheap CFLs
I have had one melt down (burning plastic time) and another go s/c taking out the main house breaker. This from a reputable housewares and furniture company (1). The older more expensive (Phillips again) are still working fine. I don't fancy risking a house fire with cheap ones, and they don't last as long either.
Buy cheap, get cheap.
PS: Why no standard fitting for the tube to the starter/main body of the device? Very green to throw it out if only one part is borked (bork, bork, bork #1).
CFL's
Yeah got a few kicking about the house now, they do take a little while to warm up but are fine after that and are brighter than the bulbs they replaced, also do remember
60w for the old bulb, 11w for the new one.. Work it out
Cost of bulb + cost to power it over it's a timespan (approx what 3,000hrs)
say 60w bulb at say 50p ..
3,000 x 0.06 Kw = 180 Kwh of power required for this 1 bulb.. what's power these days 9p/Kwh something odd.. -> £16.20 + 0.50 for the bulb - £16.70
Now for the CFL - cost £1.80 say (it's a phillips one) so that's
3,000 x0.011 Kw => 33Kwh of power at 9p/Kwh = £2.97 + £1.80 => £4.77
So even if it only lasts 3,000 hrs dues to lots of spikes / blips / repeated on/off which kills many things quicker, your still saving..
So I'll stop there, yes it's a pain you can't use them in certain fittings but it doesn't say you can't, it just says that it will reduce it's lifespan.
Now if they could get them to work with a dimmer switch I'd be loving it as 5 x 9 w much better that 5 x 40w.
The Bulb Delusion
The first two comments are surprising to me. I have been using CFLs for too many years to remember. Nearly all the first generation (phillips globe) are still working perfectly. They were expensive (£6), slow to get to full power, but had a warm colour.
Which would suggest, your correspondents did not use these or had an electricity supply or use that destroyed them.
Subsequent CfL of the 'rod' variety were very much cheaper - 49p seems to be the norm nowadays. Some are good, some from cheap factories are blue and dodgy. Could this be what your correspondents are judging from? As for size, the normal inexpensive CfL is a little larger. But I have never had a problem getting a compact version of that would fit in the space of the old 60w. Yes, these are more expensive (~£2) but still are much cheaper than 60w when consumption is taken in.
Sorry, these people are either rather thick, or deciding (like that NI minister yesterday) that their agenda is more important than fact.
But then 19% of the UK population believe the earth goes round the sun once a month so I guess alllowances must be made ....
Could someone please explain
how digital meters will have any effect on power use?
I personally own 2 LED light bulbs. I use one as a desk lamp, and I can't think of a use for the other. They are exceedingly dim and annoyingly blue. I suppose I'll use the second to replace the first after its 50,000 hours are up (ten years from now or so)
CFL longlife is an industry myth
For a good long while I have flirted with using CFLs to replace my older style lamps and I have to say that I am pretty underwhelmed regarding the long life claims.
Most of the standard supermarket CFLs I have bought have a far shorter life than their tungsten counterparts.
Symptoms of failure are typically chosen from the following list:
- output "strange" spectrum blue light that makes you feel really ill after a while
- just refuses to come on
- whistles
Oh, and the other thing is that they are typically slightly bigger than tungsten lamps and are therefore useless for close fitting enclosed bathroom enclosures.
Oh and another thing while I'm at it - they take so long to "warm-up" that they are useless for garages, cupboards and stairs.
Oh and they are more expensive.
Is there any reason why people are NOT flocking to buy them?
