When Thomas Edison opened the first electric power station in the United States in 1882, he could not have foreseen America's insatiable demand for electric power.

Americans consume on average 13,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per person per year, which is twice the average of a person in the Great Britain, and about six times more than someone living in China.

And Americans are increasing their use by 30 percent a year.

Of all the electric power generated in the U.S., about 22 percent is used for lighting, and most of that power is wasted. The culprit is Edison's lightbulb, which is virtually unchanged since its invention in 1879.

"The incandescent light bulb is basically fire in a glass bulb," according to Steve DenBaars, professor of materials and co-director of the Solid-State Lighting Center at the University of California Santa Barbara.

"It's 95 percent wasted energy in the form of heat, and very little comes out as light. Only five percent comes out as light."

But the incandescent lightbulb's run as our primary light source is coming to an end. The U.S. Department of Energy is imposing tough new efficiency standards for lighting. Edison's lightbulb will be banned by 2014.

The replacement for the incandescent lightbulb - the curly fluorescent - saves energy, but is far from perfect. The more energy-efficient curly fluorescent lightbulbs contain mercury, which is a health risk, and people associate them with an unpleasant light.

"That was a flop, and the reason was people really underestimated the impact of light on the human being," said Tom Hamilton, senior product manager at Philips, a Dutch-based electronics company. "You have to have the quality and quantity of light that you're familiar with and used to, in order to really have a viable replacement."