Environmentally Friendly

By replacing the use of dry-cell batteries with ultra efficient WLEDs running off rechargeable sealed batteries, fewer dry-cell batteries are disposed. This reduces the release of heavy metals into the local environment. In Nepal, a country with over 24 million people, literally hundreds of millions of non-rechargeable batteries are discarded directly into the environment each year. The resulting pollution to streams, groundwater and fields threatens to be immense. It has been reported that in LUTW’s original project in Nepal, the use of dry cell batteries had practically stopped.

Similarly, the installation of WLEDs reduces the demand for fire-wood diminishing negative impacts on landscapes, such as deforestation and desertification. According to the United Nations the primary cause of habitat destruction and run-off water pollution is the denudation of the landscape by the rural poor in a desperate search for scarce firewood. By various estimates from the Schumacher Institute and other development organizations, 60%-90% of firewood and fuel use is for lighting purposes.

Furthermore, LUTW is most active in remote rural areas that are ecologically sensitive. In 2003 LUTW’s lighting systems helped in the preservation of the biologically diverse Knuckles Range, a UNESCO world heritage site and wildlife preserve in Sri Lanka. Protection regulations preclude the inhabitants from being connected to the electrical grid. Together with partners, LUTW has provided leading edge lighting technology to many villages. LUTW has committed to lamping the remaining villages in the Knuckles in 2004 and has commissioned a study to analyze the social impacts of its technology and to quantify the reduction of kerosene consumption and deforestation.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories (LBNL) the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world comes from dirty, hazardous and expensive fuel based sources for lighting. LBNL states explicitly that the only real way to meet the increasing lighting energy demands is to replace fuel based lighting with solid state lighting systems and recognizes LUTW as the pioneering organization in this effort.  

Fuel-based lighting in the developing world is a source of 244 Million tons of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere each year, or 58% of the CO2 emissions from residential electric lighting (1). WLED lighting powered by renewable energy replaces fuel-based lighting thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. LUTW estimates that by replacing kerosene lamps with modern lighting technology it reduces approximately 130 kg per household. By the end of 2005, LUTW intends to reach one million lives thus reducing over 26, 000 tons of carbon-emissions per year (2).

(1) Mills, E. 2002. "The $230-billion Global Lighting Energy Bill." Proceedings of the Fifth European Conference on Energy-Efficient Lighting, International Association for Energy-Efficient Lighting, Stockholm, pp. 368-385.