Beacons of light, towards a future bright

What's up guys! Do you know of the legacy of Sir Thomas Edison?

If you do not, I need you to check what's up your ceiling or any street post along the road. What do you see?

Fig. 1 Sir Thomas Edison's legacy (source: http://wexlerofcalifornia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/PIHRA-Lightbulb-unblasted-center.jpg)

Yes! The light bulb! Have you been en-light-ened?

Light bulbs provides us with light 24/7 (Fig. 1). Even without sunlight, shaded interiors of buildings can be sufficiently lit for us to operate comfortably.

However, is the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity truly necessary for lighting during the day?

After yet another blackout, Brazilian mechanic Alfredo Moser started toying with the idea of using water to refract sunlight into dark rooms (Zobel, 2013). This brought forth the Solar Bottle Bulb, which consists of a large bottle (~1.5L) filled with water and bleach (to prevent algal growth) (Fig. 2). 

Fig. 2 Moser and his Solar Bottle Bulb (source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTZ1yx8gIiPaxOiypTLhyENOg_5ourWi3m-tc5WNOSC4-NLh143Kti42sfOcLXsIPKxsQk_tHJseA1p-GQTtZUszdtvA2I-F4QM0sOyC7AUdhyMDth5IFVDuVuB8vauKAvt16O-KMMZM/s1600/moser-alfredo-lampada-genio.jpg)

This invention sparked the Liter of Light movement led by Illac Diaz, director of MyShelter Foundation in the Philippines, to benefit local communities which lack electricity using this innovation (Video 1) (Orangefix, 2014).

Video 1: A Liter of Light *Official Version*

Another similar invention is the light tube. Light tubes, or light pipes, are layered with highly reflective materials and can direct sunrays into the interior of buildings (Fig. 4). The Zero Energy Building in Singapore is one of many prominent infrastructures in the world which uses this innovation to save on electricity during the day to achieve 0 net energy consumption (Fig. 3) (BCA, 2014).

Fig. 3 The Zero Energy Building (ZEB), Singapore (source: http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/09/BCA-Net-Zero-Energy-Buildin-537x357.jpg)

Fig. 4 How the light tube works (source: https://www.bca.gov.sg/zeb/daylightsystems.html)

The Liter of Light is already furthering plans in more countries. With less electrical consumption, the environmental impact of these countries will be reduced. And currently, light tubes are only used in a few buildings in developed countries. Clearly there is much room to develop in the future. 

Thus I hope that both inventions will be developed further globally since it can save many hours of electricity on sunny days. The reduction of electrical consumption will lead to lesser burning of fossil fuels, which will inevitably lead to a brighter future for us all (pun intended).

Literature Cited

BCA, B. &. (2014, September 31 ). Energy Production and Consumption. Retrieved from ZERO Energy Building: http://103.244.102.23/zebEnergy/

Orangefix. (2014, August 14). Liter of Light: About Us. Retrieved from Liter of Light: http://aliteroflight.org/about-us/

Zobel, G. (2013, August 12). BBC News Magazine. Retrieved from BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23536914