New superefficient nanofiber bulbs light it up without chemicals.

Just when you thought it was cutting-edge and savvy to switch your incandescent bulbs to the more environmentally-friendly compact flourescent (CFL) bulbs, RTI International, a research group out of North Carolina funded in part by the Deparment of Energy's Solid-State have created a revolutionary new concept for energy efficient lighting.

It's the nanofiber bulb, a design utilizing a combination of nanofibers designed for the reflection with photoluminescent nanofibers. The individual fibers are smaller than a human hair, but when they're knit together, the result is a bulb that produces 55 lumens of light output per watt, five times more efficient than your standard lightbulb. And the light quality is primo. Researchers have been able to create high quality warm, neutral, and cool white light.

What really makes these lights special though is how the reduce environmental impact, both by saving energy and by using safer materials.

CFL's still use toxic chemicals to create their light, which creates a disposal problem. Nanofiber bulbs manage to produce light effectively without using chemicals, gases or even glass. It'll be another three to five years before we see these bulbs on the market though, and the questions of cost and lifetime are still unanswered. Keep an eye on these.

Want to learn more? Check out this video below that explains how the lights were made.