E-colight

E–colight is your bioluminescent companion in the urban landscape. It illuminates the city specifically according to your needs for safety and well-being, while reducing light pollution by targeted light use only when and where it is needed. Light up in a resource-friendly way by not using electricity – nature knows many ways to generate energy in the form of light, so let’s collaborate!

Light is one of the most important sources of information for humans. Where there is no light, the human eye cannot see anything. Consequently, a lack of light means a lack of information and can therefore lead to a feeling of unease and insecurity.
So on the one hand there is the need for well-lit safe spaces in the city, but on the other hand there is the problem of light pollution and high energy consumption from street lighting.

Excessive lighting also has negative effects on the environment, especially on nocturnal animals and their chronobiology - so low-lit parks in cities are actually important habitats for various species, including pollinators. In Berlin in particular, there are many parks throughout the city that are passed by a lot, even in the dark. Too little lighting, however, causes many to take a diversion via brighter streets out of discomfort. So how could this conflict be resolved?

The use of a portable light that works via bacterial bioluminescence represents a user-centred solution with and for nature. The chip-equipped lights are to be available for takeaway in defined urban areas via a free-floating model. If necessary, a lamp can be taken along, used for part of the way and then simply be left anywhere in the designated area. This enables a sense of safety in dark areas through targeted lighting only when it is needed while decreasing light pollution at the same time.

Bacterial bioluminescence means the emission of light by bacteria caused by a biochemical reaction. Many species are capable of bioluminescence and by transferring their structural luxCDABE genes, nonluminescent bacteria like E-coli can also be turned into light emitters. By providing a suitable and nutritionrich environment, the duration and intensity of the light emission can be controlled to a large extent. E-coli are comparatively robust and insensitive bacteria and begin to glow at a certain population density when certain reaction parameters are observed. The use of such a natural light source has various advantages over an electric one, such as saving valuable resources and a very low energy loss through heat.