1. The sun can now light your path at night.
Cambridge is home to the world’s first glow-in-the dark path, known as the Starpath. A spray-on coating, developed by the UK Company Pro-Teq, stores ultra-violet particles from the sun during the day and releases them as blue light at night. Any normal path can be converted in four hours, and it could herald the dawn of a new era in street lighting.
2. Mexico once handed out 23 million free light bulbs
This feat, achieved by the Programma Luz Sustentable in Mexico, made it into the 2012 record books. Mexican President, Filepe Calderon, received the official Guinnes World Records certificate on behalf of the programme, which saw almost six-million households each receive a box of four energy efficient light bulbs.
3. One hour’s worth of energy from the sun could power the Earth for a year
The sun is our single greatest source of power – imagine if we could properly harness its energy. Boffins have proposed eight intriguing solutions that could make this a reality. Oh , and we have 2.8 billion years left on Earth to make the most of the sun , according to National Geographic.
4. A single lightning bolt unleashes the same energy as blowing up a ton of TNT
Lightning is Mother Nature’s very own brand of electricity – and it’s a force to be reckoned with. Every day there are over eight million lightning strikes across the world. With the onset of global warming, that’s set to rise. Each bolt superheats the air around it to about 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit – five times hotter than the sun.
5. An estimated 15 trillion watts of power are being used across our planet at any one time.
That’s the equivalent of powering ten billion 100-watt light bulbs at the same time. In theory, a growing population will increase this use, but it is hoped that smarter energy technologies, combines with the growth in renewable energy, will offset it.
