Ever walk into a dark room, switch the light on, and find that the dim light it offers is hardly any more useful than the darkness it tries so feebly to dispel? If so, you probably walked into a room with a energy saving light bulb hanging from the ceiling. If you are content with waiting around for a few hours while the light bulb warms up enough to allow you light enough make out details of the room, then you’ll probably be quite content with these energy saving light bulbs. But should you find this wait annoying, impractical and hugely inconvenient, you might be waiting for some other innovation to come along and replace light bulbs.

Since normal light bulbs were outlawed in the name of reducing carbon emissions, there has been little choice in the matter. Until now. A Welsh company, LOMOX, has just received a hefty £454,000 grant from the carbon trust, to be used in promoting ‘light-emitting wallpaper. The idea behind this innovation is that electric currents stimulate chemicals in the wallpaper which in turn produce light.

OLED (organic light emitting diodes) can be coated in a thin film onto any flat surface. So not only could it be used with wallpaper to light a room, but can also be used on screens such as those found on televisions and computers. Our Chelsea escorts will surely be making use of this incredible innovation as soon as it becomes available to the public.

OLED technology has been around for awhile already, but only with recent advances in the field has it become a conceivable idea to promote it for mass use. Using a mere three to five volts means it can be run from solar panels and batteries. Predictions from LOMOX estimated that people could be reading by the light of their wallpaper as soon as 2012. OLEDs weigh in at two and a half times more efficient than current energy saving bulbs.

While this might be a very exciting step towards a world of lower carbon emissions, will light emitting wallpaper be as huge an inconvenience as energy saving light bulbs? Will we continue having to stumble blindly round our living rooms long after we have switched the lights on? Let’s hope that OLEDs do not forget to provide more light while they are reducing emissions and saving energy.