An independent two-and-a-half-year global pilot of LED lamps in 15 trials across 12 cities including New York, London and Kolkata, has found that LED street lighting can generate energy savings as high as 85%. The programme also indicates that citizens of pilot cities prefer LED lighting, citing social and environmental benefits.

The findings of LightSavers are presented for the first time in a new report entitled, Lighting the Clean Revolution: The Rise of LED Street Lighting and What it Means for Cities.

The report explores the global market status and potential for LEDs and provides guidelines for policymakers and city light managers who want to scale-up large LED retrofits. It was launched as part of the Clean Revolution campaign at the Rio+20 UN Global Compact Corporate Sustainability Forum and produced by The Climate Group in partnership with Philips.
 
Key findings include:

• Surveys in Kolkata, London, Sydney and Toronto indicated that between 68% to 90% of respondents endorsed LEDs city-wide rollout. Benefits highlighted included improved safety and visibility.
• LED lighting trialed lifespan ranges from 50,000 to 100,000 hours indicating a high return on investment.
• LED failure rate over 6,000 hours is around 1%.
• The Climate Group and Philips are calling for an international low carbon lighting standard to be created and implemented ensuring that citizens worldwide have access to energy efficient outdoor lighting.