Redesigning the exterior lighting as part of the urban landscape: The role of transgenic bioluminescent plants in mediterranean urban and suburban lighting environments
Introduction
Over the last decades, the ever-increasing energy consumption has contributed to an accelerating man-made global warming, with detrimental effects on humans and ecosystems (IPCC, 2018). To reduce the pace of man-made global warming at cities (M. Santamouris, 2014), many countries have developed strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources including urban and suburban lighting. This includes lighting strategies focusing on energy efficiency (Doulos et al., 2019a, Jensen, 2017, Khorasanizadeh et al., 2016, Polzin, 2016), by cutting down energy consumption (Doulos et al., 2019b, Doulos et al., 2019c; (Zielinska-Dabkowska, 2013), increasing the albedo of cities (Santamouris, 2012), using cool materials (Doulos et al., 2004) expanding the green spaces in urban areas (Qun et al., 2019); (Mahyar Masoudi, 2019) (Dunnett and Kingsbury, 2008) and including eco-services within urban planning (Woodruff, 2016). The anticipation of urban green infrastructure planning and the regeneration of existing open spaces in the city, is the most necessary prerequisite for sustainable design, an among man and nature (Urban et al., 2019).
Artificial lighting is responsible for almost one fifth of the worldwide electricity consumption (Zissis, 2016). Specifically, in Europe, street lighting consumption corresponds to 1.6% of the total electricity consumption (Traverso et al., 2017). Even though street and exterior lighting in general prolong human activities (Beccalia et al., 2019) and promote the sense of security and safety (Peña-García et al., 2015), they are responsible for the irreversible transformation of the nightscape (Cucchiella et al., 2017), along with light pollution, which has severe consequences on animals, plants, as well as astronomical measurements (Hoelker et al., 2010); (Ngarambe et al., 2018); (Kocifaj, Solano-Lamphar and Videen, 2019). However, new artificial lighting technologies, not only reduce operational cost (Campisi et al., 2018) (Shahzad et al., 2018), but installation cost as well, since these technologies, such as LED luminaires, become cheaper in time. This has resulted in the emergence of additional usage of lighting, as well as the lighting of areas that were previously in the dark (Fouquet, 2006). This is confirmed by the data of the first-ever calibrated satellite radiometer, measuring night lights between 2012 and 2016, which showed that the Earth's artificially lit outdoor areas increased by 2.2% per year (total radiance growth of 1.8% per year (Kyba et al., 2017).
Another issue for consideration is the increased waste generated by the processing and manufacturing of light source components and the particularly demanding and energy-intensive process of recycling them, especially the recovery of Rare earth elements (REE) found in fluorescent lamps and LEDs (Machacek et al., 2015). The environmental impact of over-lighting and light pollution is growing, along with the increase of sky glow near human settlements and its becoming a serious threat to natural environments (Aube, 2013). In addition, LED lighting technologies have peaks in short wavelengths (blue part of the spectrum) that affect the health of living organisms (Brainard et al., 1996). In the context of saving electrical energy and promoting environmental sustainability, the use of artificial light sources in urban landscapes can be reduced or even eliminated in specific suburban areas by using the effects of bioluminescence through transgenic plants. However, there are might be other factors that should be taken into account were might blocking the overall benefit (Rodríguez et al., 2019).
Systematic research on the light production of bio-luminescent systems, along with the classification of the respective organisms, has been already recorded between 1500 and 1700 AD (Roda, 2011), while researching the light-producing mechanism itself was completed later in the middle of the last century (Herring, 2000) (Nakamura and Haneda, 1966, Strehler and Arnold, 1951). Bioluminescent plants exist only in marine algae (Monocyte) and micro-organisms (Dinoflagellates) (Valiadi, 2013), as well as some types of Fungi, which are simplified plant forms lacking chlorophyll (Shimomura, 1992).
The production of bio-luminescence in laboratories and especially the expression of bioluminescence in plants has been studied by numerous scientists during the 20th century. Landmarks in the research of the production of bio-luminescent properties can be summarized as follows:
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The chemical synthesis of Luciferin from fireflies carried out by Jacobs in Johns Hopkins University - (Jacobs, 1974); (Lonsdale et al., 1998); (Barnes, 1990),
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Βioluminescence through Luciferin, Luciferase and Oxygen peroxide from marine organisms by Cormier and Kishi- (Cormier M.J. 1965); (Kishi et al., 1965)-,
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Synthesizing the Luciferace enzyme from fireflies to produce a luminescent tobacco gene by Marlene De Luca et al. (DeLuca et al., 1986),
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The isolation of Luciferase from marine photobacteria (V. Harvey Fisheri and Phosphoreum) by Koncz C.L., Mc Elroy - (C. L. Koncz et al., 1990) (McElroy 1944);- and
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The creation of nanobionic luminescent plants by M.I.T University and (Kwak et al., 2017).
While there is ongoing research for the development of the Transgenic Bioluminescent Plants (TBP) (Branchini et al., 1999, Cazzonelli and Velten, 2006, Charrier et al., 2010, Czyz et al., 2000, Grajkowski, 2016, Hummer and Hancock, 2015, Koksarov and Ugarova, 2008, Koncz et al., 1990a, Koncz et al., 1990b, Kondo et al., 2002, Malnoy et al., 2010, Meighen, 1993, Mitcell et al., 2005, Nass and Scheel, 2001, Parvez et al., 2005, Phiefer et al., 1999, Sarris, 2004, Schneider et al., 1990, Thouand et al., 2003, Vamlig, 2007) and the examination of any ecological impacts from their use, as presented, there is a gap concerning the amount of the emitted light output, the compliance with norms (EN, 2014, EN 13201, 2015) with regards the lighting levels, the number of the TBPs needed for compliance with the corresponding lighting levels, and finally if their selection is applicable for lighting urban or suburban areas. Due to lack of photometric data in the literature on the yield of TBPs, this research aims at two interconnected targets: a) to calculate the light output of a selected transgenic bioluminescent plant and b) to simulate the lighting distribution and levels, so that the results can be used to calculate the necessary number of plants required to supplement, or replace, artificial lighting in a specific outdoor environment. The research was focused on eastern Mediterranean suburban landscapes and their planning, due to the fact that several plants that have been genetically mapped and can be modified to accept bioluminescent properties, thrive in the Eastern Mediterranean. These objectives are a prerequisite for evaluating the proposed replacement of artificial lighting in open spaces and drawing a conclusion on its viability and feasibility. For this reason, experiments were made, in order to identify the potential luminosity that Vibrio Fisheri bacteria can achieve and a comparison was made between the most efficient outdoor lighting and the proposed TBPs. Furthermore, the identification whether TBPs can be an option for illuminating exterior areas or not, can provide a basis in order to activate the respective research teams so that they investigate their ecological impacts.
The structure of the paper consists of a methodology section, where the steps taken are discussed in detail. Specifically, issues discussed in the methodology include the selection of suitable plants for genetic transformation and the development of a reduction factor based on the plant properties. The next section contains the measurements and calculations of the projected plant foliage, the calculations and measurements of light intensity and luminous flux and finally the creation of a luminous profile to be used in lighting calculations. The following section presents the results, that present the luminous flux of the plant in comparison with a LED streetlight. A discussion follows the structure of the paper, concerning specific issues on this research and finally the conclusions.
Section snippets
Overview
The methodology followed in this research is depicted in a diagram (Fig. 1) that encompasses several distinct activities needed to arrive at the milestone of simulating a foliar surface as a light source, to be used in lighting simulations. By using a two legged approach, starting with the selection of the appropriate plants to be used, a vast array of potential plant candidates that have been genetically mapped and thrive in Greece have been studied. From this pool we have identified four
Defining the foliage of the selected plants
The calculation methodology used to determine the percentage of foliar area to plant area includes the following steps and is shown in Table 5:
- 1.
Capturing an image of a representative leaf of each selected plant and introducing a digital photo to the EasyLeaf Area software (Easy Leaf, 2019) to calculate the leaf area.
- 2.
Capturing an image of a representative 1.00 × 1.00 m2 area of each selected plant and introducing it to the ImageJ software (ImageJ n. d.)to calculate the foliar area. In the
Results
The maximum luminous flux values of the transgenic plants per 1m horizontal length at medium growth are presented in Table 8. The luminous efficiency of transgenic plants could be compared with a typical outdoor Pole Top LED luminaire in new lighting installations, suitable for suburban areas (Table 9).
According to EN13201 (CEN/TR, 2015), streets with low travel speed (≤40 km/h), pedestrian (Lai, 2018) and motorized traffic, with parked vehicles and low ambient luminosity are classified as
Discussion
From the view of a lighting expert the following observations can be identified:
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A zero energy consumption of plants compared to that of artificial lighting source is feasible, when considering low lighting needs.
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Transgenic plants emit in all directions, while existing HPM luminaires or new LED luminaires can have different light distributions due to their reflectors or lenses.
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Plants emit over their entire height above their lower foliage (values correspond to their medium growth height), while
Conclusions
The advent of LED technology has a great impact in reducing the energy consumption in recent years. However, the growth of artificially lit outdoor areas by 2.2% per year (Kyba et al., 2017) and the increased light pollution from artificial sources are serious matters that must be counterbalanced. Bio-luminance plants could be a way for mitigating not only energy savings and light pollution, but also waste disposal from the used lamps and luminaires. The mercury disposal contained in large
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Acknowledgments
This study is part of the ongoing doctoral thesis with main subject « Bioluminescence as a means of saving energy in architecture and urban Greek outdoor environments». Warm thanks to Mrs. Dimitra Milionis, Professor of the Agricultural University of Athens, for valuable bibliographical references as well as for explanations on issues related to the genetic modification of plants and Emeritus Professor of the Agricultural University of Athens Andreas Karamanos, for his valuable guidelines on
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