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Moonshine
Government can help by being a customer at the very beginning for LEDs in Space, ...
Kevin.Jackson
Government didn't need to "understand and support" automobiles, personal ...
London Calling: Leading in LEDs
Peter Clarke
8/14/2012 3:18 AM EDT
Setting standards, making laws, driving adoption
Across the China strait Taiwan's government is planning to announce five sets of standards for smart lighting, according to a Focus Taiwan report.
The standards are expected to improve the efficiency of lighting management, improve safety during night-time activities, create energy-saving and a smart lighting environment, and explore high value-added business opportunities worldwide, the Institute for Information Industry reported said recently.
Active legislative positions to drive LED lighting adoption have been taken for some time by mainland China and Taiwan. They are helping to make Greater China the focus of LED lighting the place where the rest of the world will eventually have to go buy their lights. It certainly looks like the European Union and the United States missed a trick in that regard.
Indeed legislation, such as passing a law that says all public buildings lights HAVE to be solid-state by such and such a date seems to be a far better way of driving local technical ability, manufacturng and supply than doling out tax payers' money to researchers. It is what the European Union did with regard to cellular telephony and that helped drive Ericsson and Nokia to leading positions and sustained billions of euros of research, manufacture and jobs, for a while.
It is too late in the realm of solid-state lighting as the trick has been pulled by Taiwan and China. Which is why the LEDs for my next solid-state light bulb may well have been finished in Wuxi.
Related links and articles:
Samsung, Osram settle LED patent battle
LED industry enters third growth cycle
Beware technology bearing gifts; turn off the light
London Calling: Deutsche does M2M
London Calling: MEMS the word
Across the China strait Taiwan's government is planning to announce five sets of standards for smart lighting, according to a Focus Taiwan report.
The standards are expected to improve the efficiency of lighting management, improve safety during night-time activities, create energy-saving and a smart lighting environment, and explore high value-added business opportunities worldwide, the Institute for Information Industry reported said recently.
Active legislative positions to drive LED lighting adoption have been taken for some time by mainland China and Taiwan. They are helping to make Greater China the focus of LED lighting the place where the rest of the world will eventually have to go buy their lights. It certainly looks like the European Union and the United States missed a trick in that regard.
Indeed legislation, such as passing a law that says all public buildings lights HAVE to be solid-state by such and such a date seems to be a far better way of driving local technical ability, manufacturng and supply than doling out tax payers' money to researchers. It is what the European Union did with regard to cellular telephony and that helped drive Ericsson and Nokia to leading positions and sustained billions of euros of research, manufacture and jobs, for a while.
It is too late in the realm of solid-state lighting as the trick has been pulled by Taiwan and China. Which is why the LEDs for my next solid-state light bulb may well have been finished in Wuxi.
Related links and articles:
Samsung, Osram settle LED patent battle
LED industry enters third growth cycle
Beware technology bearing gifts; turn off the light
London Calling: Deutsche does M2M
London Calling: MEMS the word
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any1
8/14/2012 11:06 AM EDT
This kind of government policy making is increasingly mired in politics here in the US. With "green" technologies in general becoming a wedge issue. So predictably there is no middle ground to be found, and hence no comprehensive energy plan or strategy.
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Kevin.Jackson
8/15/2012 9:26 AM EDT
"no comprehensive energy plan or strategy"
How can you say that when we have an entire branch of the federal government taking care of us in this regard? It's called the Department of Energy and I'm sure they have a plan. After all that is why they exist.
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any1
8/17/2012 9:19 AM EDT
They only have an actionable plan as far as congress will allow in their funding. Without congressional consensus the DOE is pretty much hamstrung in what they can implement. Due to the dysfunctional federal budget process over the last few years US energy policy has not advanced.
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Bert22306
8/14/2012 3:55 PM EDT
I'm not even sure I understand why it should take any government policy to get LED lighting everywhere. If the LED lights are made compatible with existing fixtures, which is ALWAYS the smart way to go, then all it takes is half way reasonable prices. Energy usage goes way down, life expectancy is hugely higher, so it should be a no brainer. It certainly is in our home.
I thought it was rather pathetic of the US lighting industry to complain that government mandates for CFL or LED would force more business to China. That was entirely their call. If the lighting industry in the US can only manage to produce products competitively whose design dates back to 1879, I'd say they do have a problem. And they preferred to just kick the can down the road, I guess.
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any1
8/15/2012 9:36 AM EDT
I think Peter's article was pointing out that yes, when economically feasible, LED lighting will be widely used. However, due to the fact that China and Taiwan government policy has fostered and subsidized LED research, manufacturing, and installation in their home nations they will be better able to compete in the burgeoning world market for LED lighting than companies based in the west who have not had these advantages to this point. Do you disagree?
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Kevin.Jackson
8/15/2012 9:42 AM EDT
Force a public that can't afford LED lighting for themselves to pay for government facilities to have it?
Great plan pal, as a taxpayer I can only say thanks a lot.
How about requiring lighting technology in public buildings that makes the most economic sense for the building?
LED lighting isn't that great when compared to old fashioned fluorescent lamps. Requiring replacement ballasts to be high efficiency electronic types would make more financial sense in an old building than replacing all the fixtures.
For new construction of government buildings LED lighting should be used only if the LED lamps don't fail before they have paid for themselves with energy savings when compared to fluorescents (which currently takes a very long time).
The author sounds like one of those people that don’t realize that governments don't have any money of their own, don't make any money of their own and only take money from others. Some of whom may wish to use that money to retrofit their own homes and businesses with solar cells and LED lighting, as I would like to do.
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Sheetal.Pandey
8/18/2012 7:36 AM EDT
LED lighting is the next big things. But I guess Government needs to understand and support. There is huge business potential as well as electricity saving.
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Kevin.Jackson
8/29/2012 9:00 AM EDT
Government didn't need to "understand and support" automobiles, personal computers or cell phones, why do they need to understand and support LED lighting?
If LED lighting is good then it will take over the world without governments.
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Moonshine
8/29/2012 4:45 PM EDT
Government can help by being a customer at the very beginning for LEDs in Space, aviation, ground military, etc. They should subsidize some research when it isn't in the immediate interests of business. They should avoid competition with private American companies unless they account for all costs and are more competitive than they have usually been.
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