This is yet another cautionary tale for those who think that government should dictate to the market what technologies should prevail in lighting. Since the government has decreed that incandescent light bulbs are evil and are too inefficient, they've all but thrown their support behind CFLs, which have a nasty side-effect of producing what amounts to hazardous waste when the CFLs break or need disposal after the end of their life due to the minute amounts of mercury found inside each bulb.
LED bulbs are promising, but this new technology, relying upon plasma, may prove to be the ultimately superior technology. The company producing the high intensity lighting, Luxim, thinks that this technology will ultimately prevail because the color temperature approximates what the sun normally gives off - which would be a pleasing color across the entire spectrum of light. That's in contrast to many other lighting solutions, which may give off yellow or off-color casts.
The technology also promises to be even more efficient than CFLs and LED technologies per watt - enabling nearly 150 lumens per watt, in comparison to 70 for an LED and 15 for an incandescent.
I foresee that state and local governments will eventually move to this technology for street lighting as early adopters because of the sheer energy costs associated with such lighting. (HT: Instapundit)
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