Sydney has started to install 6450 streetlights with LEDs and become the first city to be brightened with LED lights in Australia.The project saves half of the amount of electricity required to keep the city lit at night and cuts Sydney's power bill by about $800,000 as well as saves 2861 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
 

The first stretch of new lights have now been installed outside the town hall on George Street, in time for Earth Hour, which begins at 8.30pm on March 31 night.
 

Along with London, New York and Hong Kong, Sydney has been trialling the lights for 18 months, as part of an experiment by think tank The Climate Group to test public reaction to the slightly different light qualities of LEDs.
 

The lights have been installed at Circular Quay, Martin Place, Kings Cross and Alexandria Park. According to The surveys show, 90 percent of respondents supported the switch to the new lights.
 

There are about 22,000 streetlights in the council area, of which 13,500 are managed by power utility Ausgrid, and the rest by the council. Public lighting is responsible for about a third of the council's energy use and 30 percent of its greenhouse emissions.