Durham Sparks Into Action

With 78,000 street lights to maintain, Durham County Council is looking to make substantial cost savings and reduce carbon
emissions from an innovative new street lighting system.
Keen to eliminate wasted energy and to comply with the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), the Council has introduced a ground breaking technology, which allows engineers to dim lights on streets and highways at off-peak times.

The Council is initially using the system on a 4.5 mile stretch of the A167, one of the busiest roads in the county, which often has traffic diverted on to it from the A1 at
times of accidents.

The revolutionary system, which is called LeafNut, has been developed by West Yorkshire based Harvard Engineering plc and provides the potential to save up to £46 and 100 kg of carbon emissions per light. The savings are achieved by using modern electronics to replace old inefficient systems in the lamp head. These are connected to groundbreaking wireless technology providing remote control to individual or groups of lights.

The system manages the light output, allowing the dimming of the lights to match the specific requirements of a location at different times of night. This saves electricity and cuts costs, whilst also reducing carbon consumption and light pollution.

Lighting levels on the A167 are reduced during times of very low traffic volumes, whilst areas leading on to the A167 will remain unchanged. Even then, such is the flexibility of the system that at the press of a button the lighting can be brought back to full intensity. This safety aspect can also be maintained in conjunction with CCTV monitoring systems.

Wilf Newall, street lighting manager, at Durham County Council commented, “With the introduction of the CRC and the continued volatility in energy prices, it is becoming increasingly important to identify ways of reducing the amount of electricity used. Street lighting is one of the Council’s biggest energy costs. Some local authorities have made the decision to switch off street lights, in Durham we are looking to technology to help us achieve savings and reduce carbon emissions. The LeafNut system allows us to do this by reducing light levels at particular times, rather than completely switching lights off.”

As well as cutting costs, the system will provide a significant contribution towards the local authority’s targets for reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Change Act has set legally-binding targets for an 80% reduction in these emissions by 2050.

Harvard Engineering started development work on their LeafNut system over 6 years ago. It won for the company, the prestigious Lighting Design Award for light sources and control gear where judges commented “It will revolutionise the street lighting industry because the system can cut energy consumption by 40% and carbon production and toxic waste by 50% across the whole street lighting infrastructure.” The LeafNut system can assist in providing a significant contribution to achieving targets for carbon emission savings.