Good point Peter, I often wondeer about road lighting as well. Surely we could manage with less. There are after all many stretches of motorway without any lighting at all.

All office lights should be fed by PIR detectors, with desks having individual desk lights. This is what our building has, so when you work by yourself the main lights go out (unless you wander around). When you go of to the coffee machine they come on - brilliant (ly)
Frank

hi,

I am not a fan of street lighting. No stars at night.

If you drive the M27 at A3M junction the some good lighting ideas, much reduced lighting, still great visibility.

As for security. Strange as it my seem, the surveys of crime I have seen, show that street lighting leads to a slight rise in crime.
I have seen only a constant rise of extremely powerful, security lighting in countryside. To the point that going to the pub and back i have to carry a torch as my night vision is obliterated by the security lights. Thankfully it seems some have do realise its over the top and tone them down.

and office blocks. name and shame them. buy the security staff night vision eyewear. Just turn them off.

My original point was about office ligthing, not too worried about their security, but do agree with Skywalker that a bit of street lighting does make people more comfortable to be out at night, at least they will see the crime coming! I was in Alderney a couple of months ago, they don't even know what street lights are, mind you don't think they know what crime is! Great night sky.
My real concern is all the wasted energy with ofice lighting, which I suspect is just the tip of the iceberg. Just how much is being wasted across the country, do they know what it is costing them? That's about the only thing that business worries about and perhaps government law, they are banning the incandescent bulb how about office lighting. I'm surprised local authorities haven't twigged to the earning potential, get the traffic wardens on overtime, performance related and I bet the lights will soon go out!

Well he never got back to me so thought I'd try an alternative approach, have emailed the Governor of California on the basis that our Energy Minister follows his environmental policies (phasing out incandescent light bulbs). What's the chances of a response?

Not sure if this is correct, but I am lead to beleive that a lot of street lighting, and more specifically the motorways, is to take the spare capacity of electricity produced at night. You cant just switch power stations on and off.

?????

As for offices, I used to work in a PIR switched office, and if you fell asleep at your desk, the lights turned off after about 30 mins so not to wake you!

i think that miles and miles and miles of motorway lighting should be de-commissioned. junctions and roundabouts - maybe, but miles of deceptively flat, straight and un-impeding road? give me a break! At least one third of street lighting in built up areas should be de-commissioned, and that that remains should be better regulated so that whilst lighting is retained in important areas, it can have varying levels for different periods of the night.

If power stations need to run 24 hours (yes i can understand that) then there should be a National programme to encourage off-peak usage with heat-store technology, and non-time essential activities happening through the night.

we might need to keep the power stations running during the night, but we might not need so many.

How tunable is Nuclear? As the base technology is as old as the hills (steam driven turbines) how modifiable is the fuel source?

as someone who lives in the arse-end of nowhere, it does make me laugh / despair at the urban reliance on so much light. I know it is a crime deterrent in such densely populated areas, but it does seem over the top.

Driving through an area of Leeds a year or two ago, at least half the lights were out, as a result of what looked like neglect by the Local Council. The resulting light level looked reasonable to me!
Perhaps a shoddy maintenance regime is the way forward!!

Yeah, what about shop doors with overdoor heaters. I know the argument about shoppers not entering when doors are closed but surely it's time for very quick legislation about draught lobbies for shops or else...If every shop has closed doors, people will just choose the shop they want to enter...surely?
I'm not going to change my bulbs until I see every shop door closed.

Draught lobbies and or keeping the doors shut as a compulsory measure is a great idea.
We should all email Ken Re;the lights he is not afraid of getting his hands dirty,
goodbye Chelsea tractors, yay!

mayor@london.gov.uk

i'm all for losing the chelsea tractors.
i live in Scotland, over a mile off-road, with a very pot-holy track, steep sections etc.

I have a normal family estate car - it perhaps needs an extra shock absorber or two every few years, but maintenance costs are very similar to living in uber-suburbia.

I have lived there for 6 years and only been snowed in once, and then only for a day. The neighbour's Discovery got stuck that day too.

I have a boat, tow it around, have a trailer, tow that around with building materials etc.

i have never felt "hmm need a massive 4x4"


wee dafties, as they say in Glasgow.

I did write to the Mayor of London and got a reply! :--


What about all these here office buildings with lights on but no body in them?

WASTEFULL or what

Dr A P Cowling

Their reply:-

Dear Dr Cowling,

Thank you for your email to the Mayor referring to lights being kept on in buildings when offices are not being used. Please accept my reply on his behalf.

As you may be aware the Greater London Authority is a strategic body and as a result the Mayor is unable to intervene directly in how businesses in London are run. This implies that although planning policies ask for as many energy saving measures as possible to be included in the design of new buildings, these measures cannot be applied retrospectively. If you wish to find out about energy measures in specific buildings I can only advise that you write to these directly, as this will also increase their awareness.

The Mayor's Energy Strategy (http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/environment/energy/index.jsp) commits London to reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide by 20 per cent, relative to the 1990 level by 2010 and the strategy recognises the need to reduce the amount of electricity used in wasted lighting. Similarly the London Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) (http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/environment/climate-change/ccap/index.jsp) launched by the Mayor in February 2007 draws attention to the fact that lighting is responsible for around a quarter of business sector carbon emissions and highlights the actions that businesses can take to address this.

The GLA has recently been running a marketing campaign, 'DIY Planet Repairs' (http://www.london.gov.uk/diy/) to raise awareness of issues such as energy efficiency, and additionally, events such as the Lights Out London campaign, co-ordinated by Capital FM, in which we and many others participated, have highlighted the opportunities which exist to make savings on lighting, at home as well as in other sectors. For further information on this campaign, please visit Lights out London website at: http://www.lightsoutlondon.com/home.asp

At City Hall we use energy efficient light bulbs where possible and in addition to using renewable energy from our solar panels, our electricity is on a green tariff. As an iconic London building along The Thames it is lit up at night, but the internal decorative lighting (which is energy efficient) goes off at 11.30pm. A movement sensor activates the general lighting in office areas and as it is patrolled by 24-hour security it will not be unusual to see these lights on.

We recognise that if we are to solve the problem of global warming, then everyone will need to do their bit and it always an encouragement to hear of individual efforts, as mentioned in your case. We will continue to work to influence in this area and to raise awareness to the need for energy efficiency.

Many thanks for your interest in London's environment and for taking time to contact the Mayor on this issue.

Yours sincerely



Anna Odur
Assistant Correspondence Officer
Policy and Partnerships





I

Dear All,
unless I've misunderstood Ken's policy re: Chelsea Tractors, this has also impacted those who drive family cars too, as his policy is based on emissions rather than car type/engine size so penalizing some families trying v.hard to be eco-friendly in addition to the people Peter A mentions above.
Pam

Biff, didn't look all that successful, that's why it's best to impose by law rather than expect voluntary actions to work. Hit business where it hurts them in the pocket, I suspect it's only then that savings will be seen, but I don't think that even Ken has the balls to upset the money men!

There is the optimistic view, which I do not support, that we are already doing all we can to save energy by always switching off when not in use.

There for no savings on a special day would no biggie.