Light pollution.

[Ewok]

I have come across this article about light pollution in my local town of Bradford. I was wondering if anyone had experienced any of these trials with their local councils and if thay really had any affect as far as observing goes. Please read the following article and post your own thoughts.

"Bradford Council is rolling out dimming devices on all new street lighting in the district to cut energy costs and slash its carbon dioxide emissions.

The technology has been piloted in parts of Odsal, Idle, East Bowling and Thornton following a secret test in Flockton Road, Bradford, two years ago, and the operation has been hailed a success.

Dimming equipment allows for a 25 per cent reduction in a street light’s power consumption. It costs £100 per column but the Council expects to achieve long-term savings.

Allun Preece, principal engineer in the Council’s Street Lighting Unit, said: “The trial dimming scheme has been a success with no complaints from residents and is considered for use on all new street lighting.

“By the end of the year there will be approximately 850 units using this system which along with measures such as LED lights in road signs, illuminated bollards and some street lights is expected to have a positive impact upon the Council’s energy reduction requirements and CO2 targets.”

Meanwhile, motorist service provider the AA says it fears more crashes and crime could occur in areas where thrifty local authorities are switching off street lights altogether.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “Lighting can improve safety for drivers, riders, and pedestrians and deter street crime. The public are in favour of street lighting as a way of improving road safety. Cyclists and pedestrians are more at risk on unlit streets.

“Local authorities should consider environmentally-friendly lighting, that can save them £46 a light, rather than putting us all in the dark. In terms of reducing CO2, AA research shows that local authorities will have more effect improving traffic flow than turning off the lights.”

[Capricorn]

Light pollution tends to be light going the wrong way, as in up not down.

So dimming, although of use, would by that arguement mean less light going up but still some causing light pollution.

Would possibly be better if the lights were changed to a type that had better control on where the light was directed and did not allow as much to escape upwards. That however would mean replacing the lights and that isn't cheap.

Would also say that until a significant percentage are dimmed that no change would be seen. All the various companies and non-council buildings in Bradford (quite a few) that have security lights etc will I guess not be subject to this dimming so their light pollution will remain unchanged. Bet the football club will not be dimming their floodlight by 25% for example.

Even with the dimming I suspect that little if any change will be noticable.

[Carbon Brush]

Unfortunately this sounds a bit like the scam that Notts County Council are running. They claimed to be looking at dimming, late night turn off & some lights removal. All to save money. In practice they have re-negotiated their electricity supply to save a bundle of cash. A one-off saving for this year with no effort. No risk of worrying those who think that dark=crime. Now why didn't I think of that?

Possibly you might try a tack I am pursuing in my area. Send councillors some photos of the local night sky with/without pollution filters. Remind them that keeping one 250W street lamp burns almost 400Kg of (mainly imported) coal each year and produces over 800Kg of CO2. If enough of us nag at them often enough, they might start to take action.

Please remember that as each year passes, led street lighting becomes more affordable. It is already starting to appear. You get a lot of lumens for each watt consumed. As prices of fittings fall, that will make them the fitting of choice. There is no chance of reducing the glow from these by filtering and once installed, they won't get removed. Could be the end of 'home' astronomy. We can't all go to Kielder, Kelling, etc on a regular basis.

[lukebl]

There have been a lot of threads on this subject.

The 'good' thing about traditional street lighting is that, to a certain extent, you can filter it out. The worrying thing is that a number of authorities, including my own, are investigating replacing the power-hungry sodium lights with much brighter but more energy-efficient White LED lights. Another concern is that the authority seems to have entered into a long-term contract with a major lighting company, who will obviously have a vested interest in selling as much of their product as possible. They've even triumphantly said how much safer we will all feel about the streets being much brighter! Indeed a lot of elected Councillors have been lobbying for the streets to be bighter lit, even though there's no evidence that it makes them safer or people to feel safer. That posturing might appeal to paranoid readers of the Daily Fail, but not me. My fear is that we will actually end up with greater light pollution, and of a type which can't be filtered out.

[PortableAstronomer]

I thought it was the editor of the Daily Fail that ran the country? Or was it the Sun?

“Lighting can improve safety for drivers, riders, and pedestrians and deter street crime. The public are in favour of street lighting as a way of improving road safety. Cyclists and pedestrians are more at risk on unlit streets.

We´ve seen so many depressing quotes like that. Seems like energy companies are hell-bent on turning night into day and negotiate contracts with local authorities so they get their way. It is unfortunate that the gormlessness of the wider public supports any propaganda that claims to reduce crime, even if the opposite is true.

This reminds me of a school in Dorset that was unlight at night, and within weeks of installing a sodium light on the grounds they then had continuous vandalism.

[Davidv]

I hadn't heard about white LED lighting but it sounds very worrying. Just when we thought there was light at the end of the tunnel with some councils turning lights off after midnight LEDs come along. I despair at the modern trend to turn night into day.

I find light pollution one of the greatest disincentives to go outside and look at the night sky.