Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have long been recognised as being, potentially, the Holy Grail of lighting options. LEDs use a fraction of the power of standard incandescent lights, and even use a lot less energy than the currently-promoted Compact Fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). Other benefits of LEDs include an instantaneous warm up time, very long life span and durability to shock (no fragile filaments), they are not affected by constantly being turned off and on, and they don't have the toxic mercury content that is the sour side to CFLs.

So why have LEDs not been taken up universally? The main reason is brightness:

LEDs are currently more expensive, price per lumen, on an initial capital cost basis, than more conventional lighting technologies. The additional expense partially stems from the relatively low lumen output and the drive circuitry and power supplies needed. However, when considering the total cost of ownership (including energy and maintenance costs), LEDs far surpass incandescent or halogen sources and begin to threaten compact fluorescent lamps. - Wikipedia

But now researchers are harnessing Nano-technology to enable LEDs to leapfrog CFLs in efficiency by helping them brighten up their act:

A new generation of super-efficient light bulbs was unveiled by scientists yesterday.

They said the bulbs would spell the end of regular filament models within three years.

Employing Light Emitting Diode technology, the bulbs would use less electricity than the low energy versions that families are currently being urged to invest in.

LED lights, which are used in electrical gadgets such as mobile phones and computers, have been judged unsuitable to light homes until now because they are not bright enough to illuminate whole rooms.

But researchers believe they have found a way of making the devices much brighter without using any more power.

Faiz Rahman, who is leading the project at the University of Glasgow, said: “By making microscopic holes on the surface of the LEDs it is possible to extract more light, thus increasing the brightness of the lights without increasing the energy consumption.

“As yet, LEDs have not been introduced as the standard lighting in homes because the process of making the holes is very time-consuming and expensive.

“However, we believe we have found a way of imprinting the holes into billions of LEDs at a far greater speed but at a much lower cost.”

The research team has been using a technique called nano-imprint lithography to etch microscopic holes on to the LEDs, allowing more of their light to escape. - Skypedia (emphasis added)

Of course, you don't need to wait three years to get rid of your incandescents! The 80% energy savings you'll make over that time, by swapping out your incandescents for CFLs, makes CFLs a wise financial investment in the interim, as well as an earth-friendly alternative. When your CFLs do finally give up, just be sure to take them to a suitable recycling centre. Perhaps by then these newfangled brighter LEDs will be on the shelf waiting for you.