Green Investment Bank are providing millions of pounds of funding for LED streetlighting projects.
GIB, owned by the taxpayers, believe that if the UK switched all seven million streetlights to LED they could save £200 million in energy costs. The bank think the UK should make this switch by 2020 to drastically reduce carbon emissions and energy costs.
At a lighting even hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group, Gregor Paterson-Jones, the Green Investment Bank’s energy efficiency manager, said:
LED streetlighting is currently less than 10% deployed in the UK. The target should be 100% adoption by 2020. The challenge has been, while the technology is proven and the savings are fairly well understood, you need capital to do this.
Glasgow will be the first council to benefit from the LED funding project in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions. In 2012 Glasgow changed 1,000 streetlights to LED and are now planning to do another 10,000. The light bulbs are currently SON, SOX, fluorescent and metal halide. This change is expected to reduce Glasgow’s £25 million electricity bill by 6% with no upfront cost.
Executive Director of Land and Environmental Services at Glasgow City Council, Brian Devlin, said:
Why would you not do this? If I’m asked to make a saving, I want to make a saving around supply chain and energy rather than going and reducing schools, social work, front-line service. That’s what’s driving this.
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I’m so fed up of the term Carbon footprint.
Eco bulbs were set to change the world, now it’s LED’s.
Yet did or do they? How much of the savings are simply due to a change in working practices to save money.
For example when traveling I often come across areas where a few lamp posts are turned off to “save money”. Last time I looked there wasn’t a meter on a lamp-post as standard so apart from a theoretical exercise, just where are they getting this data from and just who is doing the maths?
I’m thinking this could be yet another banking, big business, con trick to boost business. After all what is the difference in the cost of what is fitted to the new high tech fancy light units. Can’t see a mention of that. I wonder why? As for fitting the bulbs, do they need new fittings and timer / sensor controls?
Shush, mustn’t ask those awkward things must I?
Just like the wind farms that are more “snoozing” than turning.
This smacks of another Government approved, banker inspired, big business money spinner for all except the tax payer.