Yes, there was a breakthrough… blue LEDs only came out recently, and their prices have dropped significantly. Combined with low power consumption and extremely long life, LEDs are now a great alternative to traditional, filament based lighting sources.
I can’t find it now but I stumbed across a website that was devoted to only flashlights and only rating them, as a hobby. I mean, these guys had stats and technical details that far surpassed most diehard car owners.
LEDS, consume less energy becasue the major of the energy consumed by them is transfered directly to light energy and not heat. A standard lightbulb produces more heat energy than light, and in turn wastes energy. There are already companies producing LED light bulbs for house hold use, they are reputated to reduce the average cost of electricity by 45%. But they are expensive, after the initial cost of aquiring them, @40.00 apiece they pay for them selves with in the first 2 years with the savings and they will last an average of 10-12 years.