Biluminight: Light Reimagined
Helping people see the brightest wonder of the world — stars! This project was made alongside Abyan Osman, Melody Berhane, and Puneet Bhullar.
When I was young, my family and I would spend some of our summers camping. My favourite thing to do at night was to go out and gaze upon the thousands of stars and constellations. One thing I never understood was when we’d return to the city, and I’d look out my bedroom window, I could no longer see the vast amount of stars or a single constellation.
As I grew older, I came to realize the cause of this was light pollution.
What is Light Pollution?
Many of us have been aware of the three major types of pollution: air, water and land. One that is less commonly discussed is light pollution.
Light pollution is the brightening of the night sky caused by anthropogenic lights and other man-made artificial light sources which disrupts natural cycles and inhibits us from seeing the stars.
There are different components to this:
- Glare — excessive brightness that causes visual discomfort
- Skyglow — brightening of the night sky over inhabited areas
- Light trespass — light falling where it is not intended or needed
- Clutter — bright, confusing and excessive groupings of light sources
99% of people living in the United States and Europe can’t see the Milky Way because of light pollution.
It’s a Problem
For billions of years, there’s been a natural light cycle illuminated by the sun, moon and stars. Not only has artificial light affected our sight of the stars but has had a serious negative impact on the environment and our health.
Energy Consumption
Streetlights take up a lot of energy and when they are improperly shielded they produce more light than needed and begin to consume more energy-producing more carbon dioxide.
Quick facts:
- The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), estimates that at least 30 percent of all outdoor lighting in the U.S. alone is wasted, mostly by lights that aren’t shielded.
- That adds up to 3.3 billion dollars and the release of 21 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. To offset all that carbon dioxide, we’d have to plant 875 million trees annually.
This waste of light is also expensive.
- About 35% of light is wasted by unshielded and/or poorly aimed outdoor lighting
- This is about 3 Billion dollars per year worth of energy lost to Skyglow.
Health
Light pollution has an impact on our health as well. Our bodies rely on a specific cycle of light that occurs throughout the day. Light changes from a warm white colour at dawn to natural white then to a cool white in the afternoon, back to natural white, and eventually to an ultra-warm white colour at sunset.
To understand the effects it has on our health, we first need to understand Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT).
Light is measured using Kelvin (K), which is similar to degrees Celsius. CCT determines what hue and tone are emitted from the specific light.
Most artificial lights use “cool white” at around 6500K, which is right around the same amount as daylight. When this type of light is used, it can suppress the production of melatonin in our bodies and disrupt the circadian rhythm. The loss of melatonin production doesn’t only hinder our sleep; it boosts our immune systems, regulates our hormones and holds antioxidant properties.
Artificial light that uses “cool white” can throw off our circadian rhythm, which can have an impact on our daily lives.
LED lights are a temporary solution.
LED streetlights are a better alternative to standard high-intensity discharge (HID) lights, yet there are still some disadvantages.
Their great qualities are what led to the conversion from HID to LEDs in many cities. What some cities have failed to consider, however, is that while LED streetlights are capable of emitting different colours of light, they still produce the wrong hue and colour contributing to skyglow.
Referring to the CCT, the ideal light that needs to be emitted to avoid sky glow is a “natural white” light at 3,500K.
How do we get rid of this?
Introducing: Biluminight
Biluminight is a lighting company creating bioluminescent street lights that will eliminate artificial light and energy waste.
Instead of trying to minimize light pollution and the amount of energy being wasted why not eradicate it completely?
Here’s how we’re doing it. 👇
How does it work?
To break it down, there are three main components to the streetlights:
- Piezoelectric Grid System
- Bioluminescent Fungi
- Dispensary System
We’ll be using renewable energy harvested from piezoelectric grids which will support the environment of fungi for it to continue to occupy the light bulb and for it to be at its optimal level for light emission. Although fungi are heterotrophs they don’t necessarily “eat”, but they need nutrients to absorb. That being said, the dispensary system within the lamp post will contain their “food” and water which will be distributed in dosages once in the day and once at night.
Piezoelectric Grid System
The fungi will be supported by a human-generated heat source. More specifically, through piezoelectric energy harvesting grids.
The fungi will be supported by a human-generated heat source. More specifically, through piezoelectric energy harvesting grids.
To break it down, inside the grids, there’s a tetragonal sequence; a lead zirconate titanate crystal structure, essentially a formation of widespread, lattices called crystal points.
When pressure is applied to the grids, this crystal sequence gets deformed, in turn converting the applied mechanical force into electrical energy. This is pretty much known as the direct piezoelectric effect.
Electricity Average:
The calculation assumes that the exerted force is equal to 1.3x the mass of an average individual which is 62.0kg multiplied by the acceleration of gravity. This force applied over the 0.01m depression of the piezoelectric grid results in 7.91 Joules for every step a person takes.
1.3 x 62.0kg x 9.81m/s² =790.69N
790 69N x 0.01m=7.91J/step
The estimated efficiency of each piezoelectric grid is 50%, meaning 3.96J are harvesting for every step a person takes. Using the approximation that the distance between light posts is 8 ft and that the average stride allows 1.5 feet between steps, we can calculate the following:
- (7.91J/step)/2=3.96J/step
- 3.96J/step x (8feet)/(1.5 ft/step) x 1kWh/3.6 x 10⁶J =0.00000587kWh/person
- 0.00000587kWh/person20 x 063 people/day= 0.12 kWh/day
The energy harvested would equate to:
- 0.12kWh, daily
- 0.84kWh, weekly
- 43.8kWh, yearly
Bioluminescent Fungi
Panellus stipticus fungus is a nonpoisonous brownish kidney-shaped mushroom that grows in dense clusters and thrives on decaying wood notably that of Oak, Beech and Birk. The mushrooms naturally grow in the dark when fresh or when revived with water once dried. We selected this mushroom because it is one of the brightest bioluminescent fungi.
To trigger bioluminescence the fungus needs to be in contact with Pichia pastoris a yeast strain. The enzymes found in yeast P. pastoris will perform the caffeic acid cycle in fungal cells, creating a pathway for the biosynthesis of the luciferin which is responsible for the creation of light.
The caffeic acid cycle is a short metabolic route stemming from caffeic acid, a ubiquitous compound in vascular plants like that of panellus stipticus fungus. The responsible oxidative enzymes — known generically as luciferases — produce light by oxidizing a pigment called luciferin. The luciferin reacts with molecular oxygen, giving a high-energy intermediate (HEI) whose decomposition releases enough energy to produce the emitter oxyluciferin in the singlet electronically excited state. Fluorescence from this “excited” metabolite results in visible light emission.
But, the light emitted from the fungus is green and can only emit a small amount of light. The Luciferase enzyme is responsible for this.
In order to change the colour in fungi, a study was posted in 2017 on Science Advances showcasing that by reacting the Luciferase with different chemical compounds the fungi can produce different colours of light. In order to not contribute to Skyglow, we’ll be modifying the mushroom to a “natural white” light at 3500 to 5100 Kelvin to avoid skyglow.
To create a brighter light we’ll be using Crispr-Cas9 to genetically modify the enzyme in the fungus.
Growing the Fungi
In our labs, we’ll be growing fungi by adding mushroom culture, mycelium which will be added to the surface of a cylindrical piece of Beech Tree and will take approximately two months at room temperature to form to maturity.
Dispensary System
In order for the fungi to survive in the lightbulb and emit light, they need to be kept at its ideal temperature of 18.34C.
At the base of the lamp post, a 50-gallon water storage will be held in order for water misting to occur each day. The unit will hold two years worth of water and an additional 60 cups accounting for evaporation. A 25-gallon yeast tank will also be found at the base providing a half cup each night of activation ingredient, lasting for two years as well. With pressure from the hydraulic pump water and yeast will be able to enter the tubes to it enters the fungus’s environment.
A heat pump will be another component found at the base where external air through holes found in the base will be used.
When integrating the thermostat in the fungus’s environment it will recognize the fungus is no longer at its optimal temperature and will direct the heat pump to either work forward and provide cool air, or reverse and provide warmth. Naturally, as gas molecules occupy its space, the molecules will move towards the fungus’s environment.
The post itself will be made from aluminum as it is a non-corrosive material that can handle intense climate for decades. The post will be inserted in the ground with cement to assure rigidity. On top of the cement will be the base components of the light post where the water, yeast and heat pump can be found. Due to slightly decreased brightness from a standard LED bulb the post would have ‘mid height’ which is 6 meters in height.
Target Market
We plan to target real-estate development companies. With communities across North America being developed at a rapid rate, the opportunity to build from the ground up will allow our product to be implemented seamlessly.
We want to eliminate all effects of light pollution through a street lamp powered through pedestrians and nature itself. With piezoelectric grids along with water yeast and a heat pump the environment of bioluminescent Panellus stipticus fungus will be achieved to power the streets of new developments.
No longer will a child have to come home from their summer camping trips to an empty night sky, unable to see anything. By lighting up the city with Biluminight, light pollution from street lamps will be eradicated allowing for a sea of stars and constellations to be seen in the city.
