Riding along Interstate 435 on a Saturday evening, the lights of the city burned brightly.
The car lots along 103rd Street turned night into day, illuminating all makes and models, though there wasn’t a potential buyer in sight. To the north, the elevation of the highway showed streetlights outlining every thoroughfare for miles.
Some might call it beautiful. I started to imagine how much energy could be saved by lighting only things that people actually wanted or needed to see at night.
Streetlights are an aid to drivers and make neighborhoods feel safer. But how much safer do they make a road or a row of houses at 3 a.m. when there’s no other traffic or watchful neighbors around?
The answer isn’t pulling up every streetlight, but to consider the same steps we’re beginning to take in our homes — look for energy-efficient fixtures, and either turn down or turn off lights when no one is around.
Cities such as San Francisco; Anchorage, Alaska; and Ann Arbor, Mich., are installing LED, or light-emitting diode, streetlights. The lights reportedly use 50 percent less energy than traditional sodium bulbs and can be hooked to smart lighting systems that detect by energy use when a light is out or damaged.
A story in the Anchorage Daily News quoted city officials as saying the LED fixtures cost about $500 a fixture, compared with $10 for a sodium bulb. Yet the LED fixtures save thousands in maintenance costs because they may last 20 years, instead of two to three years for a conventional bulb.
Anchorage also plans to use a smart lighting system to dim streetlights in residential neighborhoods during times when few people are out, further reducing energy costs.
Keep in mind that we’re talking about saving a few watts here and there. Kansas City alone reported having 81,000 streetlights at the end of 2002, according to a city Web site, and said an additional 3,000 probably would be needed for suburban areas of the city.
The same strategies work in the private sector — and can be implemented far quicker. Instead of huge banks of light illuminating business parking lots, there can be timers that dim the lights or turn off some lights to keep parking lots safe during business hours and secure in the wee hours. Motion-sensor lights can shine a light on people who live or work there and provide an unpleasant surprise for those who might cause mischief.
Greener still is the notion that governments, property owners and homeowners think about the circumstances in which lighting really isn’t needed at all. And if that sounds too fuzzy, the exercise also is wise at a time when everyone is looking to eliminate unnecessary expenses.
A lighting revolution won’t take place overnight, no pun intended. There are simply too many streetlights, light posts and fixtures to convert in a short period. Yet it’s this very abundance of lighting sources that shows the huge potential for positive environmental and economic change.