The widespread adoption of retrofit LED lamps will create global energy savings worth $100 billion over the next five years, according to a recent report from IMS Research, a leading provider of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry. Although the use of LED lamps for general lighting is not currently widespread, IMS Research’s report Opportunities for Power Components in LED Lighting revealed that a rapid uptake of retrofit LED lamps will result in a potential market of more than 4 billion units by 2016. While adoption is currently driven largely by legislation, it is forecast to accelerate as consumers become more aware of the long-term savings that are attainable when compared with competing lighting technologies.
“The environmental impact that global adoption of LED lighting will have is colossal," said Ryan Sanderson, report co-author and senior market analyst. "Lighting accounts for approximately 19% of the world’s energy use at present. IMS Research predicts that in 2016 around 15% of all lighting will be accounted for by LED, which would reduce global energy consumption of lighting by around 20%.”
Retrofit LED lamps use a fraction of the power of incandescent lamps to provide a similar luminance. The report from IMS Research forecasts that in 2012 alone, the use of retrofit LED lamps in place of incandescent lamps will result in energy savings of more than 30 gigawatt hours. By 2016, with widespread adoption of retrofit LED lamps, these savings are forecast to reach more than 300 GWe. It is calculated that the five-year cumulative total will be more than 800 GWe, worth more than $100 billion.
“To generate the 800 GWe of energy in 2016 years you would need to run more than 50 nuclear power stations at full capacity," said Jonathon Eykyn, report co-author and market analyst. "At a time when the world is struggling to balance the use of more sustainable power sources with the need to provide access to low cost power sources to support economic growth, LED lighting could be a large part of the solution.”
Opportunities for Power Components in LED Lighting, was compiled following more than 40 hours of interviews with leading suppliers to the industry and is available immediately from IMS Research.
