A “revolution” in the way we illuminate our world is imminent, and will go far beyond replacing existing light sources, according to a paper published this week by two professors from the Smart Lighting Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, N.Y.

The paper, titled “Transcending the replacement paradigm of solid-state lighting,” was written by E. Fred Schubert, who has one of the coolest titles around — Wellfleet Senior Constellation Professor of Future Chips — and who also heads the Smart Lighting Center at RPI.

Schubert, along with co-author Jong Kyu Kim, research assistant professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering, predicts that far beyond being a simple replacement for existing lighting technologies, LEDs promise to enable a wide range of advances in areas as diverse as healthcare, transportation systems, digital displays and computer networking.

Not that there's anything paltry about LEDs' expected contribution to lighting efficiency. The authors estimate that if all of the world's light bulbs were replaced with LEDs for a period of 10 years, the following benefits would be realized:

• Total energy consumption would be reduced by 1,929.84 joules

• Electrical energy consumption would be reduced by terawatt hours.

• Financial savings of $1.83 trillion.

• Carbon-dioxide emissions would be reduced by 10.68 gigatons.

• Crude oil consumption would be reduced by 962 million barrels.

• The number of required global power plants would be reduced by 280.

“What the transistor meant to the development of electronics, the LED means to the field of photonics. This core device has the potential to revolutionize how we use light,” say Schubert and Kim.

The paper is a call to arms for scientists and engineers, and stresses that advances in photonics will position solid-state lighting as a catalyst for unexpected, currently unimaginable technological advances. Possible smart lighting applications include rapid biological cell identification, interactive roadways, boosting plant growth, and better supporting human circadian rhythms to reduce an individual's dependency on sleep-inducing drugs or reduce the risk of certain types of cancer.

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