Lighting up the capital and breathing in cleaner air – London’s innovative stance on becoming a cleaner city.

Tower Bridge is one of London’s most iconic landmarks and in May this year a new lighting system was unveiled on the bridge, designed to collaborate with London’s aims to be a more environmentally friendly city.

Thanks to intuitiveness, hard work and collaboration between the public and private sectors, the Greater London Authority replaced all existing lighting on London Tower Bridge, including public lighting, with energy efficient LED lighting. The old lighting system was in actual fact well past its sell by date having been established in the 1980s.

The new lights enhance the distinct architectural features of the bridge making it appear much more gothic than it previously did. Tower Bridge’s exemplary new lighting system really came to life during this summer’s Olympic and Paralympics Games by lighting up gold whenever a British athlete won a gold medal!

Not only has the new lighting system significantly improved the aesthetical appearance of Tower Bridge, but it will save over 40% in energy, meaning it was save more than 7.5 m kw hours of energy during its 25-year lifespan.

Tower Bridge’s new innovatory lighting system is just one component of a wide-ranging drive to make London an eco-friendlier city.

An earlier scheme involving the capital’s drive to save on energy and reduce pollution levels and toxic emissions saw the replacement of all London’s red buses with hybrid ones. London’s hybrid buses were introduced to London’s streets earlier this year and in combining a conventional engine with an electric motor, these hybrid buses are much quieter, cleaner and fuel efficient compared to their diesel predecessors.

Five hydrogen buses are also being established in the city over the next few years, as well as plans to kit London out with buses fitted with NOX (a combination of Nitric Oxide and Nitrogen Dioxide).

With schemes this innovatory and pioneering, it certainly looks like the capital is on schedule in reducing technology to meet air quality targets for Greater London by 2015.