Microalgae lamp absorbs CO2!
11/03/13 08:49 Filed in: News
Shamengo pioneer Pierre Calleja has invented something truly remarkable--an algae lamp that absorbs CO2 in the air--at the rate of 1 ton PER YEAR, or what a tree absorbs over its entire lifetime! While development is still needed to make a cost-effective product, the microalgae streetlamp has the potential to provide significantly cleaner air in urban areas and revolutionize the cityscape.
Lighting Installation in Greece made from Donated Fixtures
30/01/13 19:26 Filed in: News | Inspirations
view from the top with the acropolis in the background // image © adam alexopoulos
Located in the heart of athens, a small street within the monastiraki area is host to a lighting installation by inviting users to donate their old luminaires, fixtures and lamp shades in order to transform the abandoned street of central Athens into a homely space.
opening night // image © aris kamarotos
An abandoned shop was temporarily transformed into an open workspace for people to gather, observe and participate in the development of the project. A process of repairing, testing and waterproofing the lamps engaged volunteers that, in collaboration with greek creative studio beforelight, prepared more then 150 lamps to create a colorful ceiling over the street.
close-up to hanging lights // image © beforelight
via designboom
VOTE FOR ORGANIC LIGHT SCULPTURES!
18/01/13 17:50 Filed in: O.L.S. News
O.L.S. has been nominated for January Project of the Month by Cali Bamboo.
VOTE NOW! LIKE our pics on the Facebook gallery:
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U.S. Bids Farewell to the 75-Watt Incandescent Light Bulb
03/01/13 17:22
As of January 1, traditional 75-watt incandescent light bulbs can no longer be manufactured in the United States, continuing a national transition to more efficient lighting by 2014.
The first phase of the new federal light bulb standards, as set forth in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, went into effect last January with traditional 100-watt bulbs being phased out (though Congress de-funded the enforcement of those standards at the end of 2011). Under the regulations, all bulbs must be 27 percent more efficient. That means a bulb that used to use 75 watts must now use fewer than 53.
Conventional incandescent light bulbs tend to cost less up front, but waste more money and energy over the long haul. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notes that incandescent bulbs waste 90 percent of the electricity they use through emitted heat. On the cost front, Consumer Reports found, for example, that a $40 Philips AmbientLED bulb can save $160 in electricity and replacement bulbs when used in place of a 75-watt incandescent.
Shoppers in the U.S. are learning, via product labeling and public information efforts, to look for lumens (a measure of brightness) rather than watts (how much power the bulb uses) when buying light bulbs. The equivalent of an old 75-watt bulb produces a minimum of 1,100 lumens.
The EPA notes in a fact sheet that incandescents aren’t going away completely. Many halogen bulbs, which are incandescent, meet the new regulations (but they won’t last as long as LEDs and CFLs). To get a sense of the impact you can make by replacing traditional light bulbs with more efficient ones in your home, check out the Light Bulb Savings Calculator.
Source: National Geographic - The Great Energy Challenge
