The Nobel Prize Winning LED That Can Save Energy

Recently, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced this year’s winners of the Nobel Prize in all science streams. In the long and prestigious series of awards, the one with the biggest real world impact was for physics. A trio of Japanese scientists Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura were honored with the $1.1 million prize for one of the most beneficial inventions of mankind, LED.  

Invented just 20 years ago, LED (light emitting diode) has applications in almost all electronic devices we use daily, from LCD television screens to laser printers. But the highlight of this invention lies in energy saving feature that paves an energy efficient way to make white light.
Specifically, when an electric bulb glows, most of the energy is converted to heat and only a fraction to light. But in LEDs, electricity is directly converted to light.

Although it sounds simple, it is based on over three decades of research. Since the early 90s, LED technology has improved by leaps and bounds. It has been proved that LEDs are twenty times efficient than regular light bulbs and four times than florescent bulbs. Along with being energy efficient, they are also less wasteful and last noticeably longer than others.

But again we circle back to the basic question, “How are they useful to me?”

According to a survey, illumination or lighting accounts for 1900 million tons of carbon dioxide emission every year. And using LEDs alone to light streets can reduce the carbon emission by 70%. If we consider US alone, using LED can halve the country’s electricity bill, reduce green house gas emissions and save $30 billion on energy bills. 

A diode is a simple semiconductor device that typically allows current to flow in one direction only. An LED is a type of diode, made from several layers of semiconductor materials, that glows when electricity passes through it.