Everyone is doing their bit to help the UK reach its net-zero targets and fight against climate change, including National Highways, which recently announced the majority of traffic lighting will be replaced with LED bulbs.

It plans to swap 70 per cent of its lights to LED by 2027, with a quarter of the 105,000 lights across the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in England having already been replaced. 

Consequently, this would use 65 per cent less energy, as well as help avoid road closures and improve safety for workers, as LED bulbs last longer and require fewer repairs. 

Steve Elderkin, director of Environmental Sustainability for National Highways, said: “These new LED lights will not only reduce our emissions and ensure that journeys are safer, but also reduce the amount of maintenance needed across the network.”

National Highways manages 4,500 miles of road, and lighting accounted for 64 per cent of its energy consumption in the 2021/22 financial year. 

The organisation revealed it will have ploughed £132 million over five years to swap the lights to commercial LED lighting in a bid to reach net zero corporate emissions by 2030. 

It is also offering £110,000 to a winner who can propose a solution for net zero carbon maintenance and construction on England’s road networks, which it hopes to have achieved by 2040. 

This competition will help National Highways “speed up innovation within our sector and adopt new solutions”.