Japan Shifting to LED Lighting

Coca-cola and train networks. Two seemingly disparate items, one a U.S. invention and the other a technology whose management has been perfected by the Japanese, have at least one thing now in common: LEDs. The energy savings are huge.

For Coca-cola, the change is related to its vending machines. Back in September of 2011, Coca-Cola System Japan “decided to install light emitting diodes (LEDs) for product display in the company’s vending machines,” as mentioned on the Japan for Sustainability website. This falls under the company’s sustainable initiatives and will apply to all appropriate vending machines purchased from the year of 2012 for canned and PET-bottled beverages.

For trains, the switch to LEDs is taking place first at a few Tokyo Metro stations (Japanese) starting this month. Installing the LEDs is expected to save 40% as much electricity as the old lights. This and other energy savings measures are becoming increasingly important for Japan as there are currently only 4 of 54 total nuclear power plants in operation nationwide. All nuclear plants will go off-line by summer for inspection and stress tests following the Fukushima accident. New cars for the Ginza subway line will also have LED lights installed when they come on line this year (can’t wait to ride them!).

This smart and sensible shift to energy savings lights is one of many ways Japan is doing its best to come back from disaster. Ganbare Nippon!

[Screen Grab]