The invention of the blue light-emitting diode by Nakamura and his colleagues enabled the development of LEDs in any colour, as they could easily be mixed with the green and yellow LEDs that had already been around for some time. In particular, it made it possible to create bright and energy-saving white LEDs, which have become a part of everyday household technology, and are today used in a large number of products ranging from electric lights to mobile phone screens, traffic lights and displays at airports and train stations. For a look at one of the many patents behind the invention, see for example European patent EP92310132.

The energy saving potential of LEDs is tremendous: With 20% of the world's electricity used for lighting, it has been calculated that optimal use of LED lighting could reduce this to 4%, according to the UK-based Institute of Physics. Moreover, as LED lamps are efficient enough to run on local solar power, they could help more than 1.5 billion people who currently have no access to electricity grids, as the BBC reports.