Environmental aspects of white LED lighting systems: Energy statistics, study parameters, rare earths

Abstract

This work presents environmental aspects of LED lighting systems based on existing Life-Cycle-Assessment (LCA) studies in the context of different approaches: LEDs are a lamp group consisting of various materials, properties, and packaging designs. A variety of functional units are discussed followed by detailed lighting energy statistics of Austria representative for Central Europe. LCA studies should differentiate between private and commercial lighting due to different packaging and color temperature. During the last ten years a significant rebound effect can be observed in household lighting although energy-efficient lamp technologies were introduced to the market at the same time. The results of existing LCA studies of LEDs and other lamps are compiled and compared among each other and with the real market situation. It shows that for middle to long operation time all lamp types except for incandescent/halogen lamps the environmental impact is in a similar range and the variations largely depend on proper power data, the used LCA method, and the end-of-life management. The last part presents the deposition and environmental data of rare earths which are used in LEDs.

Agent-based modeling of the adoption of high-efficiency lighting in the residential sector

“…The projected GHG emission per kWhr in 2035 of electricity grid is 88% of 2012 data [24]. 7. Mercury issues with CFL lighting: It is highly possible that mercury content of CFL lighting will become a public concern.…”

“…An estimates suggests that if incandescent lamps are banned globally by year 2016, up to 0.2 Gt CO 2 e of greenhouse gas emission can be reduced by 2020 [3], which is equivalent to the total carbon footprint of 10,000 cars with each one driving 100,000 km. To offer a comprehensive understanding on the environmental performance of the lighting technologies, several life-cycle assessments that compare incandescent lamp with CFL and LED to evaluate retrofitting benefits had been carried out recently [4] - [7]. U.S. Department of energy conducted a detailed LCA study [4], including a summary to previous studies and a new LCA result to compare incandescent, CFL and LED lighting.…”

“…In another study, Bergesen et al [6] suggests that CFL lighting will have 60% reduction in 13 of 14 impact categories considered including GHG emission comparing to incandescent lighting, while LED lighting will have 80% reduction. Franz et al [7] compared environmental impact of incandescent lighting with several different assumptions of LED lighting and the worst case results in roughly 70% reduction of GHG emission. Despite these environmental advantages, the adoption of CFL and LED in residential section is much slower than commercial sector.…”

Critical review on life cycle inventories and environmental assessments of LED-lamps

“…A Central Europe case study of Austria states a national value of 15% in the not differentiated category "lighting & IT." Considering only households, the lighting electricity consumption was 3% of the country's total electricity consumption in 2012 (Franz and Nicolics, 2015). Nevertheless, the mentioned case study on power consumption in Austria showed that in the same period of the lighting technology transformation, electricity consumption of all household lamps did not decrease but increased by 29%.…”

Power Quality and Energy Efficiency in the Pre-Evaluation of an Outdoor Lighting Renewal with Light-Emitting Diode Technology: Experimental Study and Amortization Analysis

“…Therefore, properties such as efficiency, reliability, and environmental impact differ for each LED luminaire but these features are not easily distinguishable. Such uncertainties make it difficult to identify the best product among LED luminaires [13].…”