Skip to main content

That green glow from the lab? It's photonics innovation

The recent news from Brussels that the European Commission is proposing to increase research and innovation funding to €80.2 billion for the 2014-2020 budget has a decidedly green tint. Some of the money in the proposal to fund the EU’s newly named Horizon 2020 strategy would be earmarked for energy, and some to make the economy greener and more competitive.

Examples of how photonics -- one of the six Key Enabling Technologies identified by the European Commission -- drives innovation in support of sustainability are everywhere.

As an overview, Steve Eglash (Stanford University and Precourt Institute for Energy) explains in this video just what "green photonics" is, and talks about the integration of disciplines such as psychology, law, business, and physics.



In a keynote paper presented last March at SPIE Eco-Photonics in Strasbourg, Berit Wessler (OSRAM) and Ursula Tober (VDI Technologiezentrum) provided a comprehensive look at the direct environmental benefits from -- for example -- laser-based manufacturing.

Citing examples in solid-state lighting, solar cells, and optical communications as well as in manufacturing, the paper notes that "In addition to the direct eco-benefits derived from the products themselves, green photonics will also impact the product design and manufacturing processes employed."

The full paper, "Green photonics: the role of photonics in sustainable product design," is available via open access in the SPIE Digital Library.

More examples were provided at the Strasbourg meeting by companies including TRUMPF, SCHOTT, Nokia, Daimler, OSRAM, Telecom Paritech, Deutsche telecom and telecom Italia:
  • smart LEDs in automobile engineering, both outside and inside the vehicle
  • ecologically sound glass for lighting
  • diffraction to save energy in smart phone display
  • energy reduction in optical fiber telecom networking.

Later this month,  at SPIE Optics + Photonics in San Diego, a special forum on "Green" Materials led by Michael Postek (U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology) and Nora Savage (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) will explore the use of benign materials, innovative reclamation and recycling options, and much more.

For more ideas about what's ahead in the solar arena, the Optics + Photonics program on Solar Energy + Technology will include more than 300 papers advancing photovoltaics, thin films, solar hydrogen, and related fields. As the abstract for a keynote talk on "Green nanotechnology" by Geoffrey Smith (University of Technology, Sydney) shows, photonics has gone green at all levels.

All this green thinking around the globe is very timely. With the economy's growing reliance on photonics and an increasing need for sustainable choices across all areas of life, green photonics innovation is a vital part of the solution to the major challenges facing the world.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Ways to Celebrate the first International Day of Light

The first International Day of Light (IDL) is less than a month away. A global initiative highlighting the importance of light and light-based technologies, communities around the world are planning events celebrating IDL on 16 May. First Place Winner of the 2017 SPIE IDL Photo Contest SPIE will participate in outreach events local to our community in Bellingham, Washington, attend the inauguration in Paris, France, and host an IDL reception for our conference attendees at SPIE Optical Systems Design in Frankfurt, Germany taking place May 14-17. SPIE is also supporting local events in 13 different communities from the US to India, Canada to South Africa, who were awarded SPIE IDL Micro Grants to create activities that highlight the critical role light plays in our daily lives. Do you need some ideas on how to show your appreciation of light on the 16th? Here is our top ten list of ways you can celebrate IDL 2018: 1. Throw a Celebration:  Light up your party with light an

#FacesofPhotonics: NASA Intern Elaine Stewart

MIRROR, MIRROR: Elaine with the JWST at Goddard Space  Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland Meet Elaine Stewart: chemical engineering student, world-traveler, intern at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and this week's SPIE Face of Photonics. Elaine is fascinated by space exploration and how optics impacts our ability to "study distant stars that have never been seen before." Her research has taken her around the world -- from Bochum, Germany, where she studied material science and engineering at Ruhr-Universität, to Houston, Texas, to work on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) while it was under cryogenic vacuum chamber testing, to Melbourne, Australia, where she studied biochemical and product engineering at the University of Melbourne in 2017. And, when she's not busy traversing the globe, she is focusing on graduating from the University of Delaware in 2019 with a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering. Elaine makes a point of remaining an active

Taking a Deep Dive into the World of Biophotonics

Gavrielle presents her research in Ven SPIE Student Member Gavrielle Untracht is pursuing her PhD at The University of Western Australia. She had the chance to participate in the 9th International Graduate Summer School in Biophotonics this past June on the island of Ven between Sweden and Denmark. At the school, sponsored by SPIE, invited experts from around the globe gave extended presentations on topics like tissue optics, strategies for cancer treatment using lasers, and entrepreneurship in photonics. Attendees also had the opportunity to present their current research projects, results, or ideas. Gavrielle shares her experiences of the summer school with this community in the following guest blog post. I recently returned from a week of great discussions and beautiful weather at the 9th Biophotonics Summer School on the Isle of Ven, Sweden. This experience, made possible (in part) by SPIE, was an invaluable opportunity for networking and a deep dive into the world of bi