Three Japanese-born scientists won the 2014 Nobel Prize in
Physics for their work on blue light-emitting diode. Gautam Naik, writing in the WSJ, notes:
“Civilization’s
trajectory from oil lamps to the incandescent light bulb to the fluorescent
lighting of the early 20th century has been a story of big improvements. With a
quarter of world electricity consumption used for lighting, the move to LED
lights marks another leap forward.
LED lights can last as
much as 100 times as long as standard incandescent bulbs. Unlike fluorescent
tubes, they contain no mercury. Their low energy requirement also means that
they could be run on cheap solar power. These attributes mean that the more
than 1.5 billion people who today lack access to electricity grids may
increasingly have access to better lighting.”
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Related,
There is a very famous study by Yale economist William Nordhaus on the
history of lighting –