Right on time for the first of Advent, the big Christmas tree in front of Copenhagen's City Hall sparkles in the glow of 800 LED lamps supplied by OSRAM. With this move, the company is taking a stand on energy-saving lighting on the occasion of the UN climate summit to be held in the Danish capital from 7 to 18 December 2009. The energy required is intermittently generated by 15 muscle-driven cycles which are in daily operation at set times. All in all, this saves 9 tonnes of CO2.

With the LED illumination of the tree in front of the Copenhagen City Hall, OSRAM is demonstrating that festive Christmas lights don't need to be power-guzzlers. In the days when incandescent lamps were used, the energy consumption topped 9,300 kWh, equating to the annual consumption of six single-person households. The coloured Parathom LED lamps from OSRAM, however, only consume 500 kWh of electricity and, combined with the cycle-power supplied from 29 November to 18 December, save a total of 9 tonnes of CO2.

The 1.6 Watt LED lamps are not only economical and climate-friendly, but also generate a particularly pleasant coloured light in warm white, ideal for a magical Christmas mood. In Copenhagen, the lamps being used are otherwise intended for use in private households.

In addition to the Christmas tree in Copenhagen, Siemens and OSRAM will also be lending an LED sparkle to a wind turbine in the north of Munich dubbed the "Star of the South".