economis(z)e 復習程度

LED traffic lights too cool for snowy Aomori

Energy-saving LED traffic lights seemed like a cool way to cut back on electricity costs, but Japanese police said Monday they might just be too cool—because they don’t melt snow.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) account for around 45% of all of Japan’s stop-and-go signals and that proportion is growing as local authorities cotton on to their economising possibilities compared with regular incandescent lights.

But in wintery northern Japan the lights have encountered a problem—drivers can’t see them because they don’t get warm enough to melt accumulated snow.

Aomori prefectural police spokesman Akira Kudo said snow has to be removed manually between December and mid-February during blizzards.

“We don’t have enough staff members to remove snow as more and more LED lights are being introduced,” he said.

LED lighting is becoming ever more popular in public and private spaces because of its lower energy consumption.

The technology has been big news in Japan since three local-born physicists won the Nobel Prize last year for the development of the blue LED, the breakthrough that led to the white LED now commonly used worldwide.

今回取り上げるのは“economise”です。調べてみると「＜時間・金・物など＞を節約する」とあり、英英辞典には“to reduce the amount of money, time, goods etc that you use”とありました。“economy”の原義には「家（eco）の管理（nomy）」と書かれていたので、その通りだと思いました。

LEDの信号は節電にはいいそうですが、信号に積もってしまった雪を溶かすことはできないそうです。この記事では“cool”が２つの意味で使われているなど、注目できる点がありましたので、一つの記事もいろいろな視点から読んでいければと思います。（Green）

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/led-traffic-lights-too-cool-for-snowy-aomori