Technology developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Lab will extend the life of light-emitting diode lamps. The invention could save U.S. municipalities millions of dollars every year in replacement fixture costs and maintenance, as the lamps are increasingly in demand for uses such as street lights and parking garage lighting.

New graphite foam technology has been licensed to LED North America, which specializes in providing LED lighting products for municipal, commercial and industrial applications.

Cooling LED lamps is critical to increasing their efficiency, considering that each 10-degree decrease in temperature can double the life of the lighting components. The newly licensed graphite foam offers many advantages over comparable heat sink materials such as copper and aluminum.