Many of us keep hearing about the wonders of LED lights; how they have life spans of between 50,000 and 70,000 hours, how they use only a fraction of the power that even a CFL requires, and their small size. Why then, are we not using them to light our homes? The answer lies in the type of light emitted by existing LEDs. A lot of the light is muted, faded, and doesn't have the crisp white light we enjoy with conventional bulbs... until now.
Physorg reports that scientists in India have just made a breakthrough, a so-called "Holy Grail in the illumination industry" in producing an LED that emits pure white light, suitable for interior lighting of homes, offices, etc. The challenge has been developing a combination of materials that will produce this light, which they believe they have now discovered. Unfortunately, this combination includes cadmium, which is toxic, though it is likely to be an extremely small amount, much smaller than the amount of mercury currently in CFLs.
The scientists now are working to boost the efficiency of the bulb so that it is practical for everyday use. So we'll still have to wait a while longer before we get our hands on them.
Jozef Winter
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