Given the drastically increased energy costs, the first German cities are planning to reduce street lighting. Other municipalities are currently investigating such a step. Reduced street lighting is “one idea in a bundle of possible measures,” says Alexander Handschuh of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities. For many cities, however, further switching off the street lighting is no longer an option.
The city of Weimar will shorten the duration of streetlights from June 1: in summer the streetlamps come on 30 minutes later and 30 minutes earlier. In the winter months, the original lighting time will be shortened by ten minutes, the city has announced. This can save between 70,000 and 100,000 kilowatt hours per year – a saving of around 30,000 to 40,000 euros at the current energy price.
Mainz is considering further reductions in the lighting of pedestrian and cycle paths. The municipality announced that street lighting is currently being reduced by 50 percent on less-used pedestrian and bicycle paths between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Now for the first time, demand-oriented street lighting is planned, with the lanterns only turning on when pedestrians and cyclists use the paths. For this, the solar lamps must have sensors.
Since 2012, the city of Rhineland-Palatinate has focused on expanding LED technology in public street lighting. The savings achieved are enormous: in 2021 the use of LED technology has saved about 1.7 million kilowatt hours compared to 2012. Compared to 2012, the annual energy requirement has been reduced by about 20 percent.
Saving energy versus road safety
Leipzig and Dresden do not want to save on street lighting. The street lamps here are currently on for about eight o’clock in the morning. Shorter operating times are not planned. “A shorter light duration is always at the expense of road safety,” says Dresden. In both Dresden and Leipzig, the light is dimmed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. – with conventional lamps 30 percent of the energy can be saved, with LED lighting even up to 50 percent.
A reduction of the burning time is also not planned in Hanover, Bremen and Oldenburg. “Previous questions from citizens usually go the other way, ie they want shift times to be extended,” said a spokeswoman for the city of Oldenburg. In the three cities, the lanterns turn on automatically at dusk and off again in the morning. In Bremen, for example, many lamps are dimmed to 50 percent of their power between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
