LED light bulbs, while still not very popular, aren’t exactly new – but the concept of a remote-controlled, aimed one is, and it sounds interesting. The LED bulb has a non-transparent outer shell which can open up, letting light shine through a crack and illuminate a specific part of the room only.

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Seven Eleven Japan, the convenience store plans to equip all its new stores with LED-based signboards and outdoor lighting. The effort is to reduce emissions of global warming gases. LEDs will likely be able to allow 7-11 to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 3%, or 1.8 tons per store per year times 1000 new stores each year.

The Seven & i Holdings Co. estimates that it will spend more than 1 billion yen a year on LED lighting. An initial investment per new store will cost 1-2 million yen. Down the road, Seven-Eleven Japan is expected to use roughly 75% less power than fluorescent lights, thus getting back their investment. LED lights also last four to five years, compared with a year or so for fluorescent lights.

Rival convenience store operators, Lawson Inc., FamilyMart Co. and Circle K Sunkus Co. have been testing LED-based signboards, however, 7-11 is the first to take the plunge on a large scale.

Convenience store operators are also turning to more power-efficient air conditioning to reduce their CO2 emissions.

Shall we call this a convenient truth?

Source: Nikkei
Image courtesy of chishikilauren