Posted on 09/21/2007 5:55:06 AM PDT by Uncledave
Everlasting light Sep 6th 2007 From The Economist print edition
Energy: Researchers have developed an environmentally friendly light bulb that uses very little energy and should never need changing
ALTHOUGH it symbolises a bright idea, the traditional incandescent light bulb is a dud. It wastes huge amounts of electricity, radiating 95% of the energy it consumes as heat rather than light. Its life is also relatively short, culminating in a dull pop as its filament fractures. Now a team of researchers has devised a light bulb that is not only much more energy-efficient—it is also expected to last longer than the devices into which it is inserted. Moreover, the lamp could be used for rear-projection televisions as well as general illumination.
The trick to a longer life, for light bulbs at least, is to ensure that the lamp has no electrodes. Although electrodes are undeniably convenient for plugging bulbs directly into the lighting system, they are also the main reason why lamps fail. The electrodes wear out. They can react chemically with the gas inside the light bulb, making it grow dimmer. They are also difficult to seal into the structure of the bulb, making the rupture of these seals another potential source of failure.
Scientists working for Ceravision, a company based in Milton Keynes, in Britain, have designed a new form of lamp that eliminates the need for electrodes. Their device uses microwaves to transform electricity into light. It consists of a relatively small lump of aluminium oxide into which a hole has been bored. When the aluminium oxide is bombarded with microwaves generated from the same sort of device that powers a microwave oven, a concentrated electric field is created inside the void.
If a cylindrical capsule containing a suitable gas is inserted into the hole, the atoms of the gas become ionised. As electrons accelerate in the electric field, they gain energy that they pass on to the atoms and molecules of the gas as they collide with them, creating a glowing plasma. The resulting light is bright, and the process is energy-efficient. Indeed, whereas traditional light bulbs emit just 5% of their energy as light, and fluorescent tubes about 15%, the Ceravision lamp has an efficiency greater than 50%.
Because the lamp has no filament, the scientists who developed it think it will last for thousands of hours of use—in other words, for decades. Moreover, the light it generates comes from what is almost a single point, which means that the bulbs can be used in projectors and televisions. Because of this, the light is much more directional and the lamp could thus prove more efficient than bulbs that scatter light in all directions. Its long life would make the new light ideal for buildings in which the architecture makes changing light bulbs complicated and expensive. The lamps' small size makes them comparable to light-emitting diodes but the new lamp generates much brighter light than those semiconductor devices do. A single microwave generator can be used to power several lamps.
Another environmental advantage of the new design is that it does not need mercury, a highly toxic metal found in most of the bulbs used today, including energy-saving fluorescent bulbs, fluorescent tubes and the high-pressure bulbs used in projectors. And Ceravision also reckons it should be cheap to make. With lighting accounting for some 20% of electricity use worldwide, switching to a more efficient system could both save energy and reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.
Ahh yes a DUD... I wish I could have such a "Dud" of an idea....
What editor lets such garbage statements go?
LOL
I’ll bet it won’t work with a dimmer switch either.
Based on my mom's 1980 model oven, I'd have to say at least 27 years.
I was thinking along these lines when I posted. After I looked at it I figured out he probably meant cost. Usually I'm a smartazz on purpose but this time . . . . I just missed it.
http://www.luxim.com/patents.html
Luxim Corporation has been awarded several foundational patents for the Luxim LiFi™ lamp. We have a broad intellectual property portfolio in fundamental aspects of electrode-less lamp technology, and our portfolio is continually expanding. This page will be updated in the near future.
Try this bulb- it never burns out.
I have seen it. It has been burning since 1901 except for two short moves. If you are in the area and the fire station is open, stop in. The firemen are glad to talk about it.
The rule of unintended consequences.
The REAL answer would be to perfect the hydrogen cell so each home and business, each mode of transportation would have its own power supply. Then we could do away with the power plants entirely although not before I dump my utility stocks.
This won’t hurt you, but a 4 watt cell phone fries your brain? OK. I’ll buy that for a dollar.
Many years ago, this strange brain of mine thunk “Hey, why can’t we use clothes dryer heat (exhaust) to warm and add moisture to a home in cold, dry climates. I know it would still have to be filtered and vented, but?
I turned it in, as a suggestion to the utility company I worked for. It was turned down. Was it just a crazy idea?
Also, since many people like light throughout their homes at night, why are we not using fiber optics in low light situations? One bulb.
I also have two desk lamps that use 12 volt auto taillight bulbs for reading. One uses an 1157 bulb and a high/low switch.
Just food for thought.
Will it cost $2000 for an environmental clean-up crew when one breaks?
I’ve clamped some panty hoes on the end of my dryer hose and let it exhaust into my basement before.
Sorry....I see what you mean now. I misinterpreted your last post.
nice post. The end of the oil age is just around the corner. Oil won’t cost $100 it will be 25 in ten years. GM is introducing an electric hybrid diesel car for Saturn. Solar panels are getting 100s of times more effective. Reflective paints will cut the waste in most homes in 10 years and recycled products will be used in more construction items that also reduce power needs. Small wind turbines are generating electricity here in Dallas and will be a source of power where power lines haven’t been laid. Science marches on - isn’t it great. Stick it to the Saudis.
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