At the Lighting Japan Special Seminar taking place on December 2 in Taipei, Mr. Sumio Shimode, Chairman of Planning & General Committee of Japan LED Association, pointed out that Japan’s CO2 emission was aimed to be reduced by 20% in the first phase (2008-2012) according to the Kyoto Protocol. However, the emission slightly rose by about 1.9% in 2008. As a result, saving energy and reducing carbon emission has been one of the policies most aggressively promoted by the government.

KLA-Tencor Corporation, a supplier of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related industries, introduced the next addition to its wafer inspection portfolio, the ICOS(R) WI-2250. According to the company, the ICOS WI-2250 offers a dramatic improvement in inspection speed, compared to currently available products, allowing manufacturers to transition to larger LED and MEMS wafer sizes.

Neo-Neon Holdings Ltd, a China-based decorative lighting manufacturer, Wednesday said it planned to expand its LED wafer output seven-fold over the next three years, according to an article on Taipei Times.

One of the world’s most famous street in Paris, the Champs Elysees has been illuminated this year again with a stunning display of fuchsia festive lights thanks to GE Lighting, which has been a partner of this annual event since 2002.

Philips Electronics Japan announced that the company will sponsor the “Stardust Illumination” lighting event, which starts Dec.1 at the Yokohama Marine Tower (Yokohama City, Kanagawa prefecture).

Cree, Inc. Wednesday signed an agreement with LED do Brasil Comercio de Produtos Eletronicos Ltda. to promote the sale of Cree LED components in Brazil. Brazil is the 10th largest energy consumer in the world and the 3rd largest in the Western Hemisphere, behind the United States and Canada.

Intematix Corp., an innovator in phosphors, LED components and solid state lighting modules, announced the introduction of its proprietary, patent pending, custom signage product and service offerings. Intematix claimed it has combined the advantages of LED-based lighting systems with the company's phosphor expertise to create a next-generation retail signage solution that delivers the low maintenance and energy savings of LEDs while improving on the visual qualities of high resolution film approaches.

The Federal Trade Commission of the U.S. recently proposed new labeling requirements for light bulbs, including traditional incandescent bulbs, CFL bulbs and LED products. According to FTC, the proposed labels provide consumers with clear, easily understandable information to help them choose among different bulb types.

Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C. are seeing better at night, and cutting electricity usage by half, thanks to new LED roadway lights. Nearly 1100 metal halide and high-pressure sodium streetlights throughout Camp Lejeune roadways are being progressively replaced through the end of this year with 75- and 105-watt EvoLucia(TM)-brand LED luminaires, from LED manufacturer Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc. This replacement reduces energy just below 50% compared to the metal halide or high pressure sodium lights.

At the LEDforum 2009, Eric Chou, Optoelectronics BU Manager of WitsView, gave the attendees his insight into the LED backlight module section. With energy saving and slim design being the most emphasized features in laptop design, Chou estimates the penetration rate of LED backlight in large-size laptops will continue surging and reach 80% in 2011.

The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) has released a position paper that identifies the information and test data needed to evaluate solid state lighting (SSL) products. CEE members, representing the energy efficiency program administrators of the United States and Canada, plan to use this product information to evaluate the efficiency and quality of SSL products they will consider promoting to the commercial and residential markets.  

Philips announced that it is to enable people with little or no access to electricity to enjoy playing or watching sport long into the night with the world’s first dedicated solar-powered LED floodlighting (intense beams of light) solution.

NEC Display announced Tuesday its first ever LED-backlit desktop monitor for business, education, government and healthcare markets, the 22-inch MultiSync® EA222WMe.

At the LEDforum 2009, AmTRAN Chairman & CEO Alpha Wu pointed out that LED-backlit LCD TVs, which boast many advantages such as low energy consumption, high image quality and slim profile, is gradually becoming the design trend of LCD TVs. Optimistic about the LED-backlit TV market in 2010, AmTRAN projects the market penetration rate of such TVs will substantially grow to 20%.

Royal Philips Electronics announced that the Philips’ LED candle, from the Novallure series, has been recognized by the Hong Kong Designers Association with the silver HKDA Asia Design Award 09. According to Philips, advantages of the LED candle include reduced energy consumption, reduced carbon pollution, bright sparkle and similar ambient light effect at significant lower power wattage.

Cree, Inc. announces it has achieved industry-best reported R&D results of 186 lumens per watt for a white power LED.

Siemens announced the completion of the unique and pioneering technological project together with Munich multimedia artist Michael Pendry. The lighting installation consists of 9,000 Siemens Osram light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that are as bright as around 20,000 Christmas candles. Yet the entire installation uses only as much electricity as a hair dryer or a water kettle. In good weather, the art object can be seen for 30 kilometers.

As the competition in the LED backlit TV market intensifies, Korean TV giant LG Electronics has introduced two LED backlight products with different types of backlight modules, namely, direct type and edge type; both ran out of stock soon after the launch. LEDinside has recently paid a special visit to Alex Chen, Product Assistant Manager of LG Electronics Taiwan, to discuss the features of LG’s LED-backlit LCD TVs and the development of the market.

White LED 2009 (Taiwan) will be on December 13-16 in

Airfield lighting technology provider ADB Airfield Solutions, LLC and solar technology provider Carmanah Technologies have teamed up to provide a line of solar-based LED airfield lighting for ADB. The arrangement will augment ADB’s line of airfield lighting products with a range of solar-powered LED lighting alternatives. Formerly part of Siemens AG, ADB Airfield Solutions is widely recognized as a market leader in airfield visual guidance and ground lighting systems.

West of the Panasonic Group has recently decided to shut down its cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) factory in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, as LED backlight is gaining ground for various applications including LCD TVs, the Taiwan Economic News reports. According to industry executives, the closure of the CCFL factory indicates the trend of LED quickly replacing CCFL as backlights in LCD TVs, laptops and monitors.

According to the statistics of industry research institute LEDinside, China’s overall demand for LED street lights in 2009 is around 30 thousand units, far less than the number the market had expected at the beginning of 2009. The main reason is that street light standards have not been established, and the quality and quantity of LED street lights still have yet to stand the test of time. As a result, the aspect which the government’s policy supports is starting to change from outdoor lighting to indoor lighting.

Commercial lighting-class 2700K, 90 lumen/W, high CRI >90 was achieved by HPLighting in its 2828 LED package series for interior lighting applications.

In order to complete the Primax product portfolio and fulfil the lighting market demand, DOMINANT is now extending this series with a high Color Rendering Index (CRI) product in a 0.5-Watt white version, the NAW-BSC. This high CRI LED is compliant to the United States Energy Star guidelines; fulfilling the required minimum CRI of 75.

Cree, Inc. and Ningbo Liaoyuan Lighting Co., hosted the 2009 LED Lighting Fixture Promotion Conference last week in Guangzhou, China. The conference featured government officials and leaders from city street lamp management offices.

Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a world leader in safety testing and certification services, Monday announced the publication of ANSI/UL 8750, Safety Standard for Light Emitting Diode (LED) Equipment for Use in Lighting Products. The first edition standard creates a global platform of safety requirements for LED lighting equipment as well as the entire supply chain of components used in lighting products employing LED technology.

Infineon Technologies AG introduced the new BCR320 and BCR420 LED driver families to address the burgeoning market for LED lighting solutions. According to the company, the new products are specifically designed for driving 0.5W LEDs with a typical current of 150mA to 200mA, and feature a negative thermal coefficient contributing to a long lifetime of LEDs and a digital interface for a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal for dimming.

Epistar, one of Taiwan’s leading LED maker, has reportedly signed a contract to supply more LED chips to Samsung for LCD TV backlights in 2010, according to industry sources.

Right on time for the first of Advent, the big Christmas tree in front of Copenhagen's City Hall sparkles in the glow of 800 LED lamps supplied by OSRAM. With this move, the company is taking a stand on energy-saving lighting on the occasion of the UN climate summit to be held in the Danish capital from 7 to 18 December 2009. The energy required is intermittently generated by 15 muscle-driven cycles which are in daily operation at set times. All in all, this saves 9 tonnes of CO2.

When the switch is flipped the day after Thanksgiving, hundreds of thousands of lights will illuminate Temple Square and some of them will be energy-conserving LED lights. Within the next three to five years, all of the trees and greenery on Temple Square will be lit with LED lights. The LED lights are low energy, according to Eldon Cannon, group manager for Temple Square’s Ground Services. “They do not use nearly as much electricity, and as a result we will be saving energy and saving costs.”