Bradford Council to roll out energy-saving plan (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Bradford Council to roll out energy-saving plan
9:30am Wednesday 8th September 2010 in
Bradford Council is rolling out dimming devices on all new street lighting in the district to cut energy costs and slash its carbon dioxide emissions.
The technology has been piloted in parts of Odsal, Idle, East Bowling and Thornton following a secret test in Flockton Road, Bradford, two years ago, and the operation has been hailed a success.
Dimming equipment allows for a 25 per cent reduction in a street light’s power consumption. It costs £100 per column but the Council expects to achieve long-term savings.
Allun Preece, principal engineer in the Council’s Street Lighting Unit, said: “The trial dimming scheme has been a success with no complaints from residents and is considered for use on all new street lighting.
“By the end of the year there will be approximately 850 units using this system which along with measures such as LED lights in road signs, illuminated bollards and some street lights is expected to have a positive impact upon the Council’s energy reduction requirements and CO2 targets.”
Meanwhile, motorist service provider the AA says it fears more crashes and crime could occur in areas where thrifty local authorities are switching off street lights altogether.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “Lighting can improve safety for drivers, riders, and pedestrians and deter street crime. The public are in favour of street lighting as a way of improving road safety. Cyclists and pedestrians are more at risk on unlit streets.
“Local authorities should consider environmentally-friendly lighting, that can save them £46 a light, rather than putting us all in the dark. In terms of reducing CO2, AA research shows that local authorities will have more effect improving traffic flow than turning off the lights.”
Comments(14)
Joedavid
says...
10:19am Wed 8 Sep 10
Moon on a stick
says...
10:33am Wed 8 Sep 10
.
I’m puzzled by the AA quotes on this matter as they seem to be talking about the issue of removing lighting altogether where the council plan is to reduce electricity to the bulbs themselves.
thedragonwithonewing
says...
10:50am Wed 8 Sep 10
smoore
says...
11:03am Wed 8 Sep 10
imples
bredandbuttered
says...
11:06am Wed 8 Sep 10
The initial cost of these bulbs would soon be recouped, and the life extended many-fold,
Simples.
It's sad that we have to light up constantly every square metre of earth we build on, for safety reasons.
I'm not convinced.
My house is only lit up when someone approaches it.
The benefit of actually being able to see stars again would be a bonus.
Up with the partridge
says...
4:08pm Wed 8 Sep 10
Duke of Odsal
says...
4:09pm Wed 8 Sep 10
I suspect that even criminals like to see where they are going, and using a torch in an unlit area makes one more noticeable.
Personally I would be happy for lights to go out in the wee small hours - those householders and bsuinesses that want to bathe their property in light could do so by installing their own lighting!
Union Jack
says...
10:51pm Wed 8 Sep 10
thedragonwithonewing wrote:i think it's a bright idea.
whoever thought of that idea must be a bit dim.
TheClouds
says...
12:26am Thu 9 Sep 10
.
It'll take 7 years and 4 months before that 3.5p starts getting recouped, likely longer as that figure doesn't include maintenance costs.
.
With forecasts like that, is it any wonder Bradford is on its knees? The global warming fanatics have clearly gone quiet for a reason, so why not invest the money on an elaborate water feature instead?
.
Oh.
spinnekop
says...
5:17am Thu 9 Sep 10
bredandbuttered
says...
7:53am Thu 9 Sep 10
The City of Oslo, Norway, installed intelligent street-lighting , leading to energy savings of 60-70%.
If water were leaking from a tap, it would be repaired promptly to avoid wasting money. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for a leaking light. Two power stations' are required every night to make the smog of light pollution that hangs over our cities at night.
In Britain alone, over £120 million worth of electricity is wasted per year from inefficient street-lights (see above). A third of the light from an average street-light never actually hits the street - £120 million a year worth of electricity is simply wasted.
And this number is rising rapidly. Light pollution has increased by 24% in just 7 years (see the CPRE website). According to the BBC News, the cost of electricity has risen by 14% in the last year (2003-2004).
In Leicester (a typical UK city with a population of about 300,000) about 5 million kilowatt hours per year is going directly to light up the night sky. This means that 5 million kg of CO2 is needlessly pumped into the atmosphere per year. That's about 14 tonnes per day for Leicester alone (a so-called "Enviromental city"). This is equivalent into the energy generated by a couple of wind turbines for Leicester alone. If Leicester is typical of the UK, this adds up to about 450 wasted wind turbines UK wide.
You see, we are still very much in the Dark Ages when it comes to lighting.
The whole world is addressing this problem of over-spend, and I for one don't think 6 years to recoup is a bad figure.
mad matt
says...
8:39am Thu 9 Sep 10
Duke of Odsal wrote:We used to have the old, very dim street lights round here and regularly cars would get broken in to overnight. As soon as the brighter lights were installed, all the car break-ins stopped.
The notion that a lack of lighting would encourage crime is not proven, in fact a recent trial involved switching of lights between midnight and 5am - crime fell more in those areas than generally in the area around the pilot. I suspect that even criminals like to see where they are going, and using a torch in an unlit area makes one more noticeable. Personally I would be happy for lights to go out in the wee small hours - those householders and bsuinesses that want to bathe their property in light could do so by installing their own lighting!
Also since the brighter lights were installed, the number of attempted house break-ins has dropped dramatically.
We are not talking about a gradual decrease in crime, it was immediate!
bredandbuttered
says...
9:27am Thu 9 Sep 10
Dimming lighting is one way, but there are many other areas of waste could reap savings, possibly enough if properly handled to meet targets without dimming.
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mad matt says...
10:19am Wed 8 Sep 10