Our Knowledge Is Never Adequate

Street lights are probably one of the biggest energy wasters that I can think of. Don’t get me wrong, because there is always someone out in the middle of the night who needs a little bit of illumination to find their way home. However, no one in their right mind would leave a light on all night when it is only needed for a few minutes.

This is why a few towns in Germany have invented the Dial4Light. This is a system that allows the user to turn on street lights with their mobile phone. Once they have dialed up to turn the light on, the light will automatically go off after about 15 minutes.

The German towns that have tried this system have already seen a twenty-five percent drop in their electric bill, which is enough to justify implementing a Dial4Light system like this in every town.

However, if you come to think of it, it will be of absolutely no use in India. I could spot 2 reasons:
1. There are no street lights in most areas and even if there are, they aint working.
2. if they do work, Indian thieves are smarter. They will turn on the lights 15 minutes before the victim arrives and the light would go of precisely when the victim is in sight. Zip zap zoom and you are left with no money and all this before the person even thinks about dialing.

Couldn't there be another solution to this? I wish I knew.