France turns the light off at night.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 30 Jan 2013, 22:32

Shops and offices throughout France will be forced to turn off their lights overnight in a bid to fight light pollution, the country's environment ministry has announced.

Under the new law, which comes into effect on 1 July, lights in shop window displays will be turned off at 1am. Interior lights in offices and other non-residential buildings will have to be switched off an hour after the last employee leaves. Local councils will be able to make exceptions for Christmas and other special occasions, and in certain tourist or cultural areas.

The move, announced on Wednesday, is expected to save 250,000 tonnes of CO2 – enough energy to power 750,000 French households for a year.

The French ecology minister, Delphine Batho, said she hoped the law would change attitudes in France and help the country become a pioneer in reducing light pollution.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/ja ... ps-offices

the_lyniezian · Post by **the_lyniezian** » 30 Jan 2013, 23:43

I take it they don't have any 24 hour stores over there... or is this just (the majority of) shops that actually close at night?

EDIT: Not really a concern after reading the article more thoroughly.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 31 Jan 2013, 04:35

Are they going to turn off a nuke or two then! Or will they export the electricity so that people like us can keep our street lights on at night with cheaper lecky!!

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 31 Jan 2013, 11:18

It can only be for the good, though having to force people to do something so transparently sensible is sad.

Post by **adam2** » 31 Jan 2013, 11:26

So they can leave all the lights on in an almost empty office building, provided that just one person remains in the building, or has left within the previous hour.
Note that many large offices have at least on person in them all the time, including security, cleaning, and maintenance staff.

Kentucky Fried Panda · Post by **Kentucky Fried Panda** » 31 Jan 2013, 19:34

"The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our time"

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » 31 Jan 2013, 20:04

Kentucky Fried Panda wrote:"The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our time"

We can but dream. We were lucky enough to have the local street lamp fail recently. It was out for a few weeks. What a transformation, everything seemed more peaceful (probably an illusion). Sadly people moaned to the council and the orange glow is back.

JavaScriptDonkey · Post by **JavaScriptDonkey** » 31 Jan 2013, 20:59

woodburner wrote:We can but dream. We were lucky enough to have the local street lamp fail recently. It was out for a few weeks. What a transformation, everything seemed more peaceful (probably an illusion). Sadly people moaned to the council and the orange glow is back.

I feel your pain although we are thankfully street light free around here.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 31 Jan 2013, 22:23

Ours went recently, but the b***ers fixed it within just a few days

Post by **mikepepler** » 31 Jan 2013, 22:47

In East Sussex they are now, between 12:30 and 05:30:
- turning some street lights off entirely.
- turning every other one off for less minor streets
- dimming by 50% on main roads

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 01 Feb 2013, 04:17

RenewableCandy wrote:Ours went recently, but the b***ers fixed it within just a few days

Didn't you complain?

nexus · Post by **nexus** » 01 Feb 2013, 07:26

woodburner wrote:
Kentucky Fried Panda wrote:"The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our time"
We can but dream. We were lucky enough to have the local street lamp fail recently. It was out for a few weeks. What a transformation, everything seemed more peaceful (probably an illusion). Sadly people moaned to the council and the orange glow is back.

What about pedestrians? Particularly in winter? It's all very well for car drivers, but if you are a pedestrian in a town, then walking down a lit round is rather useful.

Tackling shops and offices leaving their lights on is much more important.

Post by **adam2** » 01 Feb 2013, 08:46

In urban or otherwise busy areas I believe that streets should be lit until at least 01-00 and probably all night.

In rural areas it is arguably not worth it, fewer people around, and they should be equiped with a torch, remembering that it is unreasonable to light EVERY rural road, so they will need a torch anyway for the unlit bits.

A compromise that should be sonsidered is switching street lights by sensors such that they are only lit when needed rather than all night.
Most types of lamp used in street lights are unsuitable for sensor control, but LEDs are rapidly taking over and are ideal for sensor control.

ujoni08 · Post by **ujoni08** » 01 Feb 2013, 13:49

One could purchase an excellent torch from Mike Pepler

I wonder if street lights could come on with movement sensors, specially where there are few pedestrians/vehicles per hour to need them? They could also be LEDS...

ujoni08 · Post by **ujoni08** » 01 Feb 2013, 13:54

Found an example:

http://www.gizmag.com/motion-sensing-st ... tem/19199/