1. LEDs and lighting: economic and energy context

From an energy point of view, according to the latest United Nations estimates, lighting consumes over 2,940 TWh of electrical energy per year. This represents approximately 15% of global electricity production, and an annual bill of over 200 billion euros for consumers. The production of electrical energy to satisfy human lighting needs inevitably leads to environmental pollution. Thus, it is estimated that every year, some 1,900 million metric tons of CO ₂ accompany this energy production, contributing to the greenhouse effect.

The growth of the LED industry was initially generated by backlighting applications for small, portable displays, and was driven forward by the emergence of large LCD screens. Since 2012, most LED companies have begun to penetrate the ultimate application domain: general lighting. This is partly...