Friday 10 May 2013

Scotland turns streetlights on to LEDs?

Scotland is considering switching most of its street lighting to more energy efficient LEDs.

The Scottish Government believes such a project would be a perfect use for cash lent by the Green Investment Bank, the UK’s new lending body for green projects.

The plan is one of a number of energy efficiency programmes being looked at that could be rolled out across the Scottish Government’s and other large public sector estates.

Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s Rural Affairs Secretary told a Green Investment Bank conference in Edinburgh yesterday: “Payback time is estimated at around seven to nine years, which is an outstanding spend to save case based on energy savings of as much as 40% to 60%. It is an excellent example of how investing in low carbon projects can have long term savings as well as helping to protect the environment.”

He pointed to analysis by the Scottish Futures Trust which suggests spending £350 million on low carbon measures across the Scottish public estate could potentially save £900 million in the long run.