Date Announced: 06 Apr 2010 Whittington has become the first village in the county to benefit from the energy efficient LED street lights developed by E.ON’s Sustainable Energy business and Advanced LEDs Ltd.The Midlands-made Marlin lights have been installed in Rock Farm Road and Cloister Walk. As well as a better quality of light they need 70%1 less energy to run, saving money for the local authority, as well as carbon in the fight against climate change.Whitington, together with neighbouring village Fisherwick, is aiming to be a low carbon community and won the prestigious 2009 Guardian Green Heroes award. The LED street lights will go a long way towards helping the village in its aim as they generate less light pollution than traditional street light designs and will reduce CO2 emissions by 12 tonnes over their 25-year lifespan.Michael Woodhead, Managing Director for E.ON's Sustainable Energy business, said: “Traditional street lighting takes up about 2% of all electricity used in the UK every year so there is huge scope to make this lighting more efficient.“If all the street lights in the UK were replaced with these energy saving alternatives, more than six million tonnes of carbon could be saved over a 30 year period.“We’re delighted to be able to help Staffordshire County Council and the people of Whittington reduce carbon emissions and energy costs – and it makes me so proud to help them with a product designed and built here in the Midlands.” Staffordshire County Council has a partnership with E.ON to maintain and improve street lighting across the county. To date 30,000 new street lights have been installed, modernising a large percentage of the county’s lighting stock.Staffordshire County Councillor Mike Maryon, Cabinet Member for Highways and Environment, said: “The new LED lights have been used at Rugeley power station but this is the first time they will have been seen on Staffordshire’s streets. They offer significant cost savings as they use less electricity and are a modern, quality product.“It is absolutely appropriate that this climate friendly lighting is installed in Whittington who, along with Fisherwick, have led the way in tackling climate change.”[1] Estimated carbon savings based on installation of Marlin Lights at E.ON Headquarters in Coventry. Carbon savings are based on an emissions factor of 0.48kg/kWh. Savings are site specific and will depend on the type of lighting scheme being replaced. About E.ONE.ON is one of the UK’s leading power and gas companies – generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas – and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world’s largest investor-owned power and gas companies. We employ around 16,000 people in the UK and more than 92,000 worldwide.
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