lighting

This lamp absorbs 150 times more CO2 than a tree

It's still in the "so crazy it just might work" stage, but microalgae-powered lamps could absorb a ton of carbon from the air every year.

One Million Lights trades kerosene for solar in developing countries

For kids in developing countries, it’s crucial to have a reliable light source — otherwise you can’t see to read or do your homework. But many homes and villages don’t have electric light, and the cheapest alternative — kerosene — is an environmental nightmare on both large and small scales. It pollutes the environment at […]

The spookiest horror film about energy waste you’ve ever seen

David Parker's "Light" depicts light pollution and wasted energy as a sort of Blob, not necessarily malign but relentless and implacable. In the film, energy-burning lights start dripping goo that covers the ground and finally drives people out of their homes — but it's all very quiet and eerie, like a Chris Van Allsburg drawing. […]

China bulb ban will eliminate 1 billion incandescents annually

Joining the U.S. and just about every other country with an economy, China will ban import and sale of incandescent bulbs beginning in 2014, reports the AP. State-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Xie Ji, deputy director of the NDRC's environmental protection department, as saying China is the world's largest producer of both energy-saving and incandescent […]

Light pollution is stealing our night sky — here's how to get it back

This (left) is your sky. And this (right) is your sky on ONE MAJOR LIGHT SOURCE. So it's no surprise that suburban starscapes have been totally desaturated by the lights on buildings, roads, and parking lots. Less than half the U.S. -- and almost none of Europe -- has dark enough night skies to see the Milky Way.

Zero-energy lighting for poor communities requires only water and bleach

It can get pretty dark under the corrugated metal roofs of Manila’s slums. Millions of families in the Philippines go without electric light, and those who have it can be at risk of fires from faulty wiring. But thanks to an innovation developed at MIT and distributed by the Liter of Light project, that problem […]

Shining a light on energy efficiency

Our inefficient, carbon-based energy economy threatens to irreversibly disrupt the Earth’s climate. Averting dangerous climate change and the resultant crop-shrinking heat waves, more-destructive storms, accelerated sea level rise, and waves of climate refugees means cutting carbon emissions 80 percent by 2020. The first key component of the Earth Policy Institute’s climate stabilization plan is to […]

Why the next light bulb you buy will last 22 years

By 2014, it will be illegal to sell traditional incandescent light bulbs in the U.S. You've got a handful of alternatives, and one of them, the LED bulb, will last up to 22 years. And the quality of the light it produces will be every bit the equal of traditional bulbs — maybe even better. […]