News

13 August 2009

 

Osram life-cycle assessment shows LED lamps equal to CFLs

LED maker Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH of Regensburg, Germany says that it has conducted a life-cycle assessment (LCA) - involving studying energy and raw materials consumption in terms of production, use and disposal, and the environmental impact involved in processing - which shows that the latest generation of LED lamps achieves a very high score for environmental friendliness, with LCA values equal to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and far superior to conventional incandescent lamps.

Figure: The total LCA shows that the LED lamp is one of the most environmentally friendly lighting products.

The firm says that, in order to evaluate lamps and how they actually deal with energy and resources, it is not enough just to consider energy consumption while they are in use. The aim of the LCA is therefore to analyse the environmental impact of an LED lamp over its entire life. The relevant material and energy supplies were determined in detail for all the lamp's components and production processes. As well as a detailed analysis of each individual production stage (e.g. for LED chips and lamp housings), this also includes all necessary transport, such as from the lamp’s production site in China to installation in Europe.

Apart from the direct input of raw materials, the energy input, materials and emissions associated with the retrieval of resources are recorded. The results allow conclusions not only on resource consumption and primary energy input but also acidification, eutrophication, the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion and toxicity.

In the first LCA, Osram Opto says that it has shown that LED lamps are a genuine alternative to incandescent lamps, even when considering the cumulative energy input and environmental factors. Often these fundamentally different lamps are compared on the basis of their wattage. Conventional lamps with filaments are well behind diode lamps: a 40W incandescent lamp can either be replaced by an 8W compact fluorescent light or, for some applications, by an 8W LED lamp (giving an energy saving of 80%).

In order to guarantee the comparability of results in the LCA, a lifetime of 25,000 hours was chosen as reference. The latest generation of LED lamp (Parathom Classic A55 with Golden Dragon Plus LED) achieves precisely this rating. Therefore, 25 incandescent lamps (Osram Classic A 40W) with a lifetime of 1000 hours and 2.5 fluorescent lamps (Dulux Superstar Classic A 8W) lasting 10,000 hours have to be used for a comparison.

The study was performed in collaboration with experts at Siemens Corporate Technology, Centre for Eco Innovations. It shows that - similar to compact fluorescent lamps - with LED-based lamps over 98% of the energy used is consumed to generate light. Less than 2% is allocated to production. Osram Opto says that this dismisses any concerns that manufacturing LEDs might be very energy intensive.

Also, in contrast to the primary energy consumption of incandescent lamps of about 3300kWh, LED lamps use less than 700kWh and are therefore more efficient than conventional incandescent lamps. Apart from this, the ratings that indicate the lamps’ effects on the environment are consistently better than those for incandescent lamps. Osram Opto reckons that, as LED efficiency continues to increase, LED lamps can achieve even better LCA results in future.

Three independent experts are currently verifying the findings of the internal study. A summary of the study will be available in October.

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Visit: www.osram-os.com/life-cycle-assessment