Congratulations are in order for our industry!

LED Lighting cut carbon dioxide emissions by 570 million tons in 2017

We all know that LEDs are efficient and can help save energy by displacing older, less efficient lighting technologies. But how much energy is really being saved? 162 coal-fired power plants worth of energy, according to IHS Markit.

The efficiency of LEDs is essentially what makes them environmentally friendly,” comments Jamie Fox, principal analyst, lighting & LEDs group. “Therefore, LED conversion is unlike other measures, which require people to reduce consumption or make lifestyle changes.”

We think Fox is 100% right. LED lighting has the opportunity to save massive amounts of energy, not because LEDs are efficient, but because they can be BETTER at providing light and happen to be efficient.

Growers select LED lighting because the technology has a better spectrum, can provide better uniformity and ultimately can help produce amazing plants with higher yield at a lower operational cost. The rest of the world benefits from reduced contribution to climate change and improved sustainability of our food and plant production industries.

Beyond this, not accounted for in the energy and CO2 savings estimates are the longer lifespan of LEDs. There are many pollutants created by producing, shipping and disposing of lighting products. By lasting 2-5x longer than conventional lighting, many of these pollutants are avoided. Even betters, LEDs don’t include heavy metals like mercury, making them more environmentally friendly at end-of-life.

We are proud to be part of an industry that is saving hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 from entering our atmosphere. We have a long way to go as a planet, but it is a great feeling to know that the path for our industry is Win-Win, saving energy and getting better light.