Lights out?

I see from the BBC website that that Caerphilly council has agreed to turn off lights along non-residential roads between midnight and 0530 GMT.
Apparently there will first be health and safety assessments on certain routes.  "Significant savings" are to be gained according to the council there. Councillors backed the policy after considering the findings of a consultation with residents.


One wonders how they control the system, and what the wiring systems are. I would have thought that one has to look at the whole life energy cost of a scheme. The BBC site also reports on Coventry and a switch to dim lighting. Part of a £64 million package it seems.

The New Scientist had an article about this a while back. This states that street lamps account for 2 per cent of UK electricity consumption. What percentage of that 2% could be saved? Westminster City Council has been trialling the LeafNut system as a part of its SMART Lights project. It believes that it can save up to £46 per street light per year with the system, reducing CO2 emissions by 100kg per street light per year. There is more about this on the New Electronics website.

I wonder what the potential for this is in Bracknell/Bracknell Forest? It would be interesting to find out how the systems are set up. I suspect that there will be several, given the history of the town and surrounds.

Any more would have to involve public consultation. I can see all sorts of worries about crime in the dark, and accidents.