Bioluminescent Streetlights BioGlow Deployed in Copenhagen: Genetically Modified Bacteria Replace Electric Lighting

Danish bio-lighting startup Living Lights completed the first public deployment of BioGlow bioluminescent streetlights on Copenhagen's Nyhavn pedestrian street on May 4. Eighteen BioGlow lights were installed along the 120-meter street, each containing 15 liters of transparent gel infused with genetically engineered Vibrio fischeri bacteria that continuously emit blue-green fluorescence through metabolic processes, providing soft nighttime illumination.

Living Lights CEO Astrid Lindqvist explained that BioGlow's brightness is currently about 15% of traditional streetlights — insufficient for main road lighting but adequate for pedestrian streets, parks, and landscape areas. Each light's "source" lasts approximately three months before requiring bacteria gel module replacement. Module costs are approximately €12 per light per month, lower than electricity costs for equivalent-brightness LED streetlights.

"We're not trying to replace all streetlights," Lindqvist emphasized. "Our positioning is landscape lighting and low-brightness scenarios — park paths, historic districts, waterfront promenades. In these settings, bioluminescence's soft blue-green light better matches environmental aesthetics than harsh LEDs, with zero carbon emissions and zero light pollution." Copenhagen city government plans to expand BioGlow to three streets and two parks by end of 2029.