MUNICH, GERMANY: LED lamps have long been held as more efficient than incandescents and roughly equal to compact fluorescents, but adding manufacturing was thought to change the equation. Now, a study from German lighting concern Osram, conducted by Siemens, indicates that LEDs hold their own with compact fluorescent lights, all things considered.
“…similar to compact fluorescent lamps, with LED-based lamps, over 98 percent of the energy used is consumed to generate light,” Osram said of the study results. “Less than two percent is allocated to production. This has dismissed any concern that manufacturing of LED particularly might be very energy intensive. In contrast to the primary energy consumption of incandescent lamps of around 3,300 kWh, LED lamps use less than 700 kWh. The bottom line is that LED lamps are therefore definitely more efficient than conventional incandescent lamp.”
Siemens took into account the energy, materials and emissions associated with the raw materials used to create LEDs, as well as the production process and shipping from China to Europe.
Osram said three “independent experts” are at work verifying the findings, with results to be available in October.
(Image by Puppethead)
