Let there be clean light: Kerosene lamps spew black carbon, should be replaced, study says

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/11/28/kerosene-lamps-black-carbon/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Let there be clean light: Kerosene lamps spew black carbon, should be replaced, study says[/font]

By Sarah Yang, Media Relations | November 28, 2012

[font size=3]BERKELEY — The primary source of light for more than a billion people in developing nations is also churning out black carbon at levels previously overlooked in greenhouse gas estimates, according to a new study led by researchers at UC Berkeley and the University of Illinois.

Results from field and lab tests found that 7 to 9 percent of the kerosene in wick lamps — used for light in 250-300 million households without electricity — is converted to black carbon when burned. In comparison, only half of 1 percent of the emissions from burning wood is converted to black carbon.

Factoring in the new study results leads to a twentyfold increase in estimates of black carbon emissions from kerosene-fueled lighting. The previous estimates come from established databases used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others. One kilogram of black carbon, a byproduct of incomplete combustion and an important greenhouse gas, produces as much warming in a month as 700 kilograms of carbon dioxide does over 100 years, the authors said.

…

The findings, published online this month in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, are coming out at the same time that the United Nations Climate Change Conference kicks off in Doha, Qatar. While officials from around the world are seeking effective policies and guidelines for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the study authors note that the simple act of replacing kerosene lamps could pack a wallop toward that effort.

…[/font][/font]

[GliderGuider]

1. Not only that, they're dangerous. Support these guys:

Light Up The World

They supply LED lights powered by small renewable power sources to the off-grid poor, specifically to replace kerosene.

In 1997, Dr. Dave Irvine-Halliday, a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Calgary, had the vision to use LED lighting to bring practical, economical, and environmentally safe lighting to the developing world. While on sabbatical in Nepal, Dave visited local villages and was struck by the poor conditions that people lived in. Most of them were relying on kerosene lamps which produced little light and filled the homes with dangerous, toxic smoke. As the annual income of the Nepalese villagers averaged $200 USD, Dr. Irvine-Halliday realized that there was a great need for simple, safe, healthy, affordable and rugged lighting.

In his career, Dave had been working with LEDs for more than two decades, and spent most of 1997 and 1998 trying to make an acceptable white light from various combinations of colored indicator LEDs. He made white light, but it was simply not bright enough to be of any practical use in the developing world. Soon he discovered that Nichia, a Japanese company, had invented a bright White LED a few years earlier and Dave immediately requested samples. The ‘eureka’ moment occurred when Dave lit his first White Light Emitting Diode.

In 2001, Dave met Ken Robertson, a development professional with extensive field experience and understanding of sustainable energy and environmental issues. Ken recognized the large scale potential of Dave’s idea and felt that solid-state lighting technologies coupled with renewable energy could be a true leapfrog technology on par with the development of the cell phone or the transistor radio. Ken became LUTW’s first Executive Director and under his direction created the NGO, Light Up The World, formally established in 2002.

Together with Roy Moore, Pauline Cummings and with significant contributions from notable others that were to become the founding board, Light Up The World progressed in status from a volunteer support group to a fully incorporated charitable organization.