Environmental impact (light pollution and energy wastage) of artificial grow lighting to replenish grass pitches in sports stadiums

Abstract

Artificial Grow Lighting has come to stay in the world of sports. It is becoming popular in the world of sport as a means of providing healthy and aesthetically looking turfs. The need to use this technology arises from several factors that contributes to the deterioration of the grasses on the playing surfaces. These factors include, shadowing caused by shading because of the design of the stadium, thereby not allowing the grass get enough sunlight for the growth of the grass, bad weather conditions: in the winter months when there is little to no sunlight the grasses suffer and ultimately wither away because of lack of sunlight to help them grow healthily. Despite the many benefits of this technology, like prolonging the playability of sports all year round, the technology has its drawbacks and disadvantages. The technology has very significant impacts on the environment. Many of the sports stadium uses high-intensity-discharge (HID) lamps to grow the turfs, these lamps are very bright and energy intensive. This in-turn causes environmental issues like light pollution, energy wastage and carbon emission. The light pollution from the use of artificial grow lighting can cause various degrees of health challenges for humans, and it can disrupt the natural balance in the ecosystem of the locality where the technology is in operation. Furthermore, not only does the technology causes light pollution, it also causes energy wastage as the lamps involved in this technology are energy intensive. It requires a large amount of energy to operate, energy needed in other essential sectors of the economy like agriculture and health sector. Additionally, the technology has other environmental challenges like carbon emission, because the energy used in operating the artificial grow lighting is from non-renewable sources. This study seeks to find out the relationship between artificial grow light and its environmental impacts, putting a focus on light pollution and energy wastage. The research also looks at light pollution laws and energy saving laws to prevent energy wastage, proffering recommendations to reduce and ultimately put an end to the environmental impacts of artificial grow lighting in sports stadiums.