Cheaper LEDs to light a green path?

[Celebration]

http://news.com.com/Cheaper+LEDs+to+light+a+green+path/2100-1008_3-6151515.html?tag=nefd.pulse

The future of light is plastic, Cyberlux says. The company, which specializes in light-emitting diodes, plans to reveal in about four months prototypes of a new style of white-light LEDs that would both cost substantially less to manufacture and provide more light than conventional LEDs.

Combined, the two advantages would enable light fixtures based on LEDs, which are now relatively expensive, to better compete with traditional lamps based on conventional glass bulbs and fluorescent lights, according to Cyberlux President Mark Schmidt.

"We estimate that the cost and efficiency could be better than fluorescent," he said. Schmidt, an IBM computing veteran, likened the movement toward LEDs in the light industry to what happened with computers in the 1970s and 1980s.

.............sNIP..................

In a speech last year, DenBaars said that if 25 percent of the lightbulbs in the United States were converted to LEDs putting out 150 lumens per watt (higher than the current commercial standard), the country as a whole could save $115 billion in utility costs, cumulatively, by 2025. That would alleviate the need to build 133 new coal-burning power stations, he said.

In turn, carbon emissions in the atmosphere would go down by 258 million metric tons.

[eppur_se_muova]

1. alleviate the need to build 133 new coal-burning power stations ...

and no recs yet ??

[phantom power]

2. They "plan" to release a "prototype" in "four months."

So, they're pretty far from alleviating anything.

[kestrel91316]

3. Yeah. They should just give up.

:sarcasm:

[phantom power]

6. Actually, I would love to see them show up at a store near me.

I didn't make myself very clear, but I was thinking about the proposal to put this thread on the greatest-page. A product that may, or may not, exist as a prototype next May stuck me as not very urgent.

It does bring up something I've wondered about for a while. Obviously, there are all kinds of announcements like this that would actually be big news if they made it to market as an affordable product. Those EStore guys are another example. Most of them we never hear from again, and I'm always curious about what happens to them. I've been trying to think of a good way to file these things in a "check up on in a year" bin. If they never show up in the news again, is there a way to find out what happened? Did they fail? Did they succeed, but it was too expensive? Did the company go bankrupt before they could finish their R+D? Etc.

[Javaman]

4. I just installed under the cabinet LED's in my kitchen.

They are put out a good light and frankly, I could easily work in my kitchen just on the light they provide.

[jpak]

5. My SIL installed one in her kitchen last month - works great.

Maine has a $12 rebate on them too (something I didn't know).

I'm switching to LEDs as soon as I decide which ones to go with...