LED Street Lighting as a Strategy for Climate

Change Mitigation at Local Government Level

Roberto Barraza Garcia, Gilberto Velazquez
Angulo, Jaime Romero Gonzalez, Edith Flores Jose Ignacio Huertas Cardozo
Taviz6n Centro de Investigaci6n en Mecatr6nica Automotriz
Departamento de Ingenieria Civil y Ambiental Tecnol6gico de Monterrey Campus Toluca
Universidad Aut6noma de Ciudad Juarez Toluca, Estado de Mexico
rbarraza82@me.com

Abstract considerations of security for pedestrians and drivers at night

In response to the environmental impact of climate and also to reduce criminal events [4-6]. The integration of
change, greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions has new considerations for energy efficiency and environmental
become a common global goal. This has led to policies and impact are needed [7]. It is estimated that street lighting alone
measures to meet GHG reduction targets at country levels consumes 20% of the total electric energy produced [8].

without much success. Therefore, the assessment of the

I. STREET LIGHTING DATA FOR CIUDAD JUAREZ,
effects of energy is important for the promotion of public
CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
policies at local levels that can lead to actions on GHG
reductions. LED street lighting is more expensive than A. Local street lights census
traditional luminaries and its use remains limited. This study The census for street lights provided by the Department of
analyzes the technical, economic, environmental and social Street Lighting of Ciudad Juarez for 2012, shows that there
impacts of LED street lighting in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, are 97,208 high pressure sodium (HPS) public lights (Table
Mexico and proposes changes of the street lighting municipal 1).
regulation to promote and ensure the adoption of this TABLE 1.
technology. The results of the study show that by upgrading Census of luminaries
the street lighting to LED a 64% of energy savings is
Public lights Application Quantity Percentage
achieved, which represents an environmental impact on GHG
lOOW HPS Secondary streets 44.990 46.28
emissions avoided to the atmosphere of 33,192 tons of
Primary and secondary
equivalent carbon dioxide (tC02e) per year. We propose that 150W HPS 27,746 28.54
streets.
the monetary savings achieved using LED street lightning be
250W HPS Primary streets. 20,347 20.93
used to improve the quality of life for population groups in
areas of the city that are most at risk. 400W HPS Principal avenues. 4,125 4.25

Total 97,208 100

Keywords- climate change; LED street lighting; local
government; energy efficiency.
Electrical energy consumption reported by Federal
Introduction
Electrical Commission (CFE in Spanish) for the last 3 years
In 2007 the total energy consumed worldwide was 600 EJ are shown in Fig. 1 [9].
18
(l0 Joules) and it is expected to triple by 2060; 30% of the
total was used for electric generation purposes equivalent to 8000000
Electric consumption of streetlighitng report by CFE
14
l.67xl0 kWh, producing greenhouse gases (GHG)
responsible for climate change. The total emissions of GHG
worldwide in 2011 were 42 billion metric tons and it is :2 6000000
estimated that the electric generation is responsible for 24% of
�
the global emissions [1]. c:
o
The strong dependence of the global economy on fossil a
E 4000000
fuels as well as the social consciousness about climate change :::l
<J)

(CC), has led several countries to develop public policies that 8o

promote the use of renewable energy technologies and energy ·c
� 2000000
efficiency [2]. iii

The energy efficiency in street lighting represents a very

important strategy that allows local governments to achieve
important reductions of GHG, especially carbon dioxide Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Die
(C02), with lower costs and shorter periods of return on the Month of the year
investments [3].
The objectives for actual design of street lighting have
Fig.!. Electric consumption of street lighting reported by CFE in Ciudad
Municipal Administration ofCiudad Juarez 2013-2016. Juarez, Chihuahua.

978-1-4799-7193-0114/$3l.00 ©2014 IEEE 345 IEEE 2014 Global Humanitarian Technology Conference
 Electric consumption shown in Fig. 1 does not represent of energy its emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent (C02e) to
the total electricity consumption of the street lighting because the atmosphere.
in Ciudad Juarez the company Biogas de Juarez S.A de C.Y. The C02e is the universal unit of measurement used to
generates electricity from methane gas, produced at the local indicate the global warming potential for each of the six
landfill and is sold to the local government for street lighting greenhouse gases recognized by the United Nations
consumption at a lower cost per kWh than CFE. Fig. 2 shows Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):
the last 3 years of energy generation from Biogas de Juarez carbon dioxide (C02), methane (CH4 ), nitrous oxide (N20),
S.A. de c.y. [10]. perfluorocarbon compounds (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbon

Electric generation for streetiighing report by Biogas de Juarez SA de C.v.

compounds (HFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).
The recommendation to the local government was to select
1800000 a LED street light that fulfills all the technical, environmental,
1600000
economic and independent lab testing. The proposed
Iwninaire offers a 64% of energy savings and avoids the
� 1400000
.<= emission of 33,192 tC02e per year. For the purposes of this
� 1200000 docwnent it was used an electricity average emission factor
c

g 1000000 for Mexico [11]. Table 2 shows the comparative costs of the
I!!
., existing street lighting system and the one proposed. Table 3
lij 800000
'" shows the savings on electric energy and C02e emissions.
"
:g 600000
.,
iii 400000 TABLE II.

200000 JOOW J50W 250W 400W

Street light Unit TOTAL
HPS HPS HPS HPS
Existing
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Die units 44,990 27,746 20,347 4,125 97,208
luminaries
Month of the year
Real input
W 125 188 313 500
power
Fig. 2. Electricity consumption of street lighting reported by Biogas de Total
Juarez S.A. de C.V. in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. installed MW 7,028 6,506 7,948 2,578 24,059
power
HPS total US$
To obtain the toatal energy conswnption for street lighting $9.05 $5.58 $4.09 $0.83 $19.55
cost Million
it is necessary to add the consumption reported by CFE and
Biogas de Juarez S.A de c.y., as shown on Fig. 3 [10].
Real input
W 57 93 133 202
power LED
Total electric consumption of streetiighting
Total
70000000 proposed
MW 2,464 2,580 2,706 0.833 8,684
installed
60000000 power
LED total US$
:2 $20.28 $13.34 $13.71 $4.39 $51.71
� 50000000 cost Million
�

,g
a.
40000000
E Additional
:::>
� 30000000
ballast % 25
8 energy

�I- 20000000
Daily
hr/day 12
operation

10000000 kWh cost US$ 0.25

� Biogas de Juarez SA de c.v. Table 3 shows the savings on electric energy and C02e
I_
Year
. CFE emissions.

Fig. 3. Total electricity consumption for street lighing in Ciudad Juarez, I. SOCIODEMOGRAPl-IlC VARJABLES FOR DECISION
Chihuahua. MAKING

B. Comparative LED luminaries analysis The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI
in Spanish), conducted the census for population and housing
A large nwnber of LED street lights proposals from
in 20 lO with the objective of counting the population, locate
manufactures were received by the local government and
its distribution on the national territory and update its major
analyzed technically. Some of the factors determined were: its
demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
perfonnance in a measured circuit in the field to verify its
Since 20 lO INEGI results are available to the public with
electrical consumption, remote management system (which
detailed information: nationwide, by state, county, city and for
provides a set of computer and telecommunication
the basic geo-statistical areas (AGEB in Spanish) with results
technologies that allow remote monitoring, energy metering
that constitute the main input for the development and
and GPS mapping of the street lighting), independent
diagnosis of plans and programs of the government and for
laboratory tests, economically and based in the consumption
research purposes [12].
 TABLE III.
Welfare levels and poverty polygons for Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua
Existing Proposed
Description Units Savings %
HPS LED

Installed power MW 24,059 8,684

Projected life y ears 4.1 11.4 D Poverty polygons

Welfare level
Luminarie US$ _VeryHigh
19.55 51.71 LJHigh
investment Million CJMedium
Low
Luminaire US$ _VeryLow
$6.44 $0.00
replacement cost /piece
Ballast US$
$6.44 $0.00
replacement cost /piece
Anually electric
energy MW h 105,378 38,037 67,341 64
consumption o 1_ _ _ _ _

US$
Total cost $26.11 $9.42 $16.68 64
Million
Fig. 4. W elfare levels and poverty poly gons.

Electric energy A very important factor for a successful transition to LED

US$
cost by projected $298.00 $107.57 $190.44 64
Million is that the street lighting electrical consumption is completely
life of LED
measured, to avoid electrical consumption estimates of the
Luminarie and
ballast cost for US$ luminaries connected directly to the CFE grid that will not
$13.60 $0.00 $13.60 100
projected life of Million take into account the high efficiency of the LED street lights
LED that will be installed.
Total cost for the Direct luminaries represent a great challenge since the
US$
projected life of $311.60 $107.57 $204.03 64
Million majority of them are located in areas of low and very low
LED
Anually average US$
welfare levels, where poverty and the lack of infrastructure
$27.30 $9.42 $17.87 64 security represents an obstacle to fairness in public lighting
cost Million
access. Fig. 5 shows the distribution of direct luminaries [17]
which use CFE infraestructure, providing some illumination,
Anually average US$
$17.87 but since it does not comply with the required spacing
savings Million
Electricity between light posts and other technical specifications, it does
tC02e/
average emission 0.4929 not provide as good illumination as the specially installed
MW h
factor infraestructure for street ligthning where the measured
tC02e/ luminaries are installed.
Emissions savings 33,192
y ear

Non measured electric consumption luminaries of 100W and 150W HPS.

The software ArcGIS 10.2 was used for the generation of

thematic maps by selecting one or more census variables that
facilitates the interpretation of the socio-demographic
phenomena related to the replacement of the existing
luminaries with LED lighting in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. D Poverty polygons
Lumlnarle 150W HP$
The strategy for implementing LED technology takes into Lumlnarle 100w HP$
Wetfare level
account different factors such as: population density, welfare _VeryHigh
L.J High
Medium
levels, circuits of luminaries measured and not measured Low
_VeryLow
connected directly to the CFE infrastructure.
In order to obtain the areas with different welfare levels in
Ciudad Juarez, variables such as overcrowding, illiteracy,
average education level, percentage with basic educational o ,_ _ )0000 __

background and percentage of population living in one

bedroom were used. The information was worked at the Fig. 6. Luminaries connected directly to the CFE grid.
AGEB spatial level to determine in which physical space the
greatest inequalities are present. The results show that 256,604 Fig. 6 shows that the majority of these luminaries are
people are in a very low level of welfare; 499,710 people in located in the lower social welfare levels in contrast with the
low welfare level for a total of 756,314 people, which measured luminaries shown in Fig. 5 [17].
represents the 58.1% of the population in low or very low
welfare levels. These areas are located mainly in the west and
southwest of the city.
The medium welfare level corresponds to 125,344 people
representing 9.64% and the high and very high level
corresponds to 418,198 people representing the 32.17% of the
total population, located to the north and northeast of the city
as shown in Fig. 4 [12-16].

Measured electric consumption luminaries of 100W and
o Poverty polygons
Luminari. 150W HPS
Lumlnarl. 100w HP$
Wetfare level
VOf)'Hlgh
LjHigh
DMedium
Low
_VOf)'Low
Fig. 5. Direct luminaries electric consumption.
II. MUNlCPAL STREET LIGHING REGULATION UPDATE
The replacement of existing fixtures with LED technology
is a very important step because it has multidimensional
implications such as: economic, security,
environment benefits, social welfare, etc. However it is very
important to propose the correspondent
municipal regulation on street lighting to ensure the promotion
of the LED technology in future urban developments.
Public policies can be used to change the attitude and
culture of the population. In this case, the use of LED
technology for street lighting constitutes a climate change
mitigation action and can serve as an example towards lower
GHG emissions and also shows how a public policy can take
into account different aspects, such as environmental, social
and economic, for a more sustainable local government.
The proposed municipal street lighting regulation update
has been approved by the local government ensuring the
pursuit of energy efficiency and GHG emissions reductions
for climate change mitigation as key variable in the street
lighting design.
The application of this updated regulation could lead the
local government to acquire international funds from the
Certified Emission Reduction (CER) market.
III. CONCLUSIONS
This paper summarized the important role that decision
makers and scientific community could achieve working
together. The 64% on energy savings represents more than
30,000 tC02e of avoided GHG emissions per year.
The approved municipal street lighting regulation ensure
through a legal frame the constant pursuit of the energy
efficiency with the best available technology as a key variable
to current and future street lighting design.
The economical savings obtained through the change of
public illumination technology and the income obtained on the
CER market with the C02e savings could be used for street
lightning on the city areas where it is most needed, increasing
the quality of life for population groups that are most at risk.
REFERENCES
1. Varadi, A.S., L. Szentirmai, and T. Szarka. Emerging
electrical energy saving technologies and application for
greenhouse gas emiSSIOn abatement. in 2011
International Conference on Clean Electrical Power
(ICCEP),2011.
2. DOF, Climate Change Special Program, Programa
150W HPS.
Especial de Cambio Climatico (PEEC) 2009-2012,
C.I.d.C. Climatico, Editor. 2009, DOF: Mexico. p. 118.
3. Carolina Quiroz J., D.S., E. Sara Ramirez S, Armando
Gomez G., Heber. Y. Parra H., Alejandro Miranda V.,
Alberto Elizalde B. Externalities of electric generation in
Mexico, Externalidades en la generacion de energia
electrica en Mexico. 2011. 6.
4. Farrington, D.P. and B.c. Welsh, Effects of improved
street lighting on crime: a systematic review. 2002,
Home Office Research Studies: London. p. 60.
5. studies, C.p., Surveillance of Public Space: CCTV, Street
Lighting and Crime Prevention, ed. K. Painter and N.
Tilley. 1999: Criminal Justice Press. 269.
6. The Influence of Street Lighting on Crime and
Atkins, S.
Fear of Crime. 1991, Crime Prevention Unit Paper No.
28 p. 67.
7. Alzubaidi, S. and P.K. Soori. Study on energy ef
f icient
street lighting system design. in Power Engineering and
urban image, Optimization Conference (PEDCO) Melaka, Malaysia,
2012 IEEE International. 2012. Melaka: PEDCO.
updates to the 8. Lukman, R. and D. Krajnc. Environmental impact
assessment of two different streetlight technologies. in
Proceedings of the 3rd International CEMEPE &
SECOTOX Conference. 2011. Skiathos.
9. Direccion de Alumbrado Publico, Consumption and
billing from CFE from streetlighing, Resumen de
Consumos y Facturacion de la CFE por tarija 5A de
Alumbrado Publico. 2014a, Direccion de Alumbrado
Publico: Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
10. Direccion de Alumbrado Publico, Consumption and
billing from Biogas de Juarez S.A. de C. V, Resumen de
Consumo y Facturacion de Biogas de Juarez S.A. de
C. V. 2014b, Direccion de Alumbrado Publico: Ciudad
Juarez, Chihuahua.
11. Programa GEl Mexico. Methodology for estimating the
electric emission factor for GHG inventory emissions for
Mexico, Metodologia para la estimacion del factor de
emision electrico para inventarios de emisiones
corporativas de GEl para el Programa GEl Mexico.
2012 [cited 2014; Factor de Emision Electrico 2012].
Available from: http: //www.geimexico.org/factor.html.
12. INEGI. Census for Population and Housing 2010, Censo
de Poblacion y Vivienda 2010: Sistema para la consulta
de informacion censal 2010 [cited 2014]. Available
from:
http: //www.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/consultaJesultados/sc
ince201O.aspx.
13. IMIP, AGEBs 2010, Neighborhoods, Parks, Poverty
Polygons, Urban Streets, Main Streets and Avenues,
AGEBs 2010, Colonias, Parques, Poligonos de Pobreza,
Traza Urbana, Vialidades y Vialidades Principales.
2014, IMIP: Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. p. SHP
Shapefiles.
14. IMIP, Density (Hab I ha), Welfare Levels, Distribution of
vulnerability by census tracts, Summary of Violent
Deaths and I or Accidental 2007, Densidad (Hablha),
Niveles de Bienestar, Distribucion de Vulnerabilidad por
AGEBs, Sintesis de Muertes Violentas ylo Accidentales
 2007. 2014, IMIP: Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. p.
SHP Shapefiles.
15. IMIP,Socioeconomic Radiography of the Municipality of
Juarez 2012, Radiografia Socioecon6mica del Municipio
de Juarez 2012. 2013, Instituto Municipal de
Investigaci6n y Planeaci6n: Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua,
Mexico. p. 166.
16. IMIP, Risk Atlas for Juarez, Chihuahua Update 2010,
Atlas de Riesgos de Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua
Actualizaci6n 2010. 2010, Secretaria de Desarrollo
Social: Ciudad Juarez, Chihhuahua, Mexico. p. 557.
17. Direcci6n de Alumbrado Publico, CAD Street lights
Census, Plano Censo Alumbrado Publico. 2012: Ciudad
Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. p. Archivo CAD.