Earth Hour

[Dauphin]

Google have "switched off" the lights on their homepage, but not on their results pages.

[Provost Harrison]

Re: Earth Hour

Originally posted by Wezil
Will you take part?

Will I f**k

[mrboo123]

Originally posted by Asher

How can I watch TV without the LCD backlight.

as far as I'm consider, the backlight would be part of the TV, not a light on its own. So you could leave that on.

[classical_hero]

The funny thing about this is that those who are participating in it will actually think the are doing some good for the planet. Considering that it is today and most places that are participating should have most of their lights off as it is, since most people will not be working during that time, I think it is a complete waste of time. It is also hypocritical my State Government to be taking part of it, especially considering that they have just approved two new coal powered power plants, that will do more harm than any good that might happen during the hour.

[Wittlich]

I concur Classical - having it occur on a Saturday seems, well, anti-climatic at best.

[Sirotnikov]

it sorta worked in tel aviv, where it was held thursday the 26th.

[Dracon II]

I'll be turning off all lights and electricity for many hours quite soon.... when I go to sleep.

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by Dauphin
Google have "switched off" the lights on their homepage, but not on their results pages.

Hippocrates

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
candles = global warming.

good point. I wonder if a candle actually produces less CO2 than an incandescent light bulb much less a compact fluorescent lamp?

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by BeBro

Hippocrates

Be careful, that leads to hippocracy...and no one wants to be ruled by horses

[Ecthy]

Did something like this about a year ago in our home in Zaragoza. We probably were the only household to do so in the entire neighbourhood, accompanied only by some hippies at the other end of town.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Geronimo


good point. I wonder if a candle actually produces less CO2 than an incandescent light bulb much less a compact fluorescent lamp?

I would say yes. Given that a candle uses less than a thousandth of the energy that a standard light bulb uses.

Plus, candles can be made entirely from renewable sources.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Did something like this about a year ago in our home in Zaragoza. We probably were the only household to do so in the entire neighbourhood, accompanied only by some hippies at the other end of town.

We did it once too, but only because we forgot to pay the electricity bill.

[Wezil]

I slept through it. My lights were off.

[Asher]

Calgary shows you how it's done: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...a-18b4c31dd910

Earth Hour flop blamed on late start
Joel Kom, Calgary Herald
Published: Monday, March 31, 2008

Calgary is the only known city in Canada where energy consumption actually went up during Earth Hour, a trend organizers pinned on colder weather and a late start locally in promoting the global event.

The jump in power use was small -- smaller, in fact, than a recent Saturday night bump -- but it was still a jump.

Other Canadian cities participating in Earth Hour that have tallied their power consumption, however, reported a drop in juice use.

Lucy Pasternak, who helped spearhead Calgary's participation in the event, said the upward trend was disappointing but not surprising considering she and others started organizing participation only three weeks ago.

A friend of hers heard about Earth Hour, a World Wildlife Fund event that asked people and businesses to turn out their lights from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday night.

That spurred the pair to start calling city officials and companies, but the relatively last-minute start meant fewer people jumping on board, Pasternak said.

"There wasn't as much appetite for something here like there was in Toronto," said the 29-year-old international relations major at the University of Calgary.

"I know there's a lot of apathy in Calgary," she added. "We saw the results of the latest (provincial) election with the low voter turnout."

Pasternak said she hoped a more concerted and drawn-out effort next year would mean more participation.

Calgary did see some high-profile light-dimming Saturday night, most notably at the Calgary Tower and several downtown buildings.

Still, energy consumption climbed from 1,050 megawatts at 7:45 p.m. to a peak of 1,072 megawatts at 8:30 p.m -- a spike of 2.1 per cent.

The previous Saturday night saw energy totals climb from 976 megawatts to 1,044 megawatts during the same time period.

That equalled a jump of nearly seven per cent -- higher than the Earth Hour increase -- though total power use was still less than it was Saturday night.

Vancouver, meanwhile, saw power use drop during the hour. Consumption was also around 3.5 per cent less than on a typical night in similar conditions.

Toronto's consumption fell by five per cent at the end of Earth Hour compared with an hour earlier. Compared to a typical late Saturday night in March, the power drain was 8.7 per cent less.

Montreal also saw a drop, though it was negligible, according to a Hydro Quebec spokeswoman.

Edmonton hasn't calculated its Earth Hour energy use yet.

Jinette Boulianne, an Enmax spokeswoman, said the fact energy use increased doesn't mean people didn't extinguish their bulbs.

"Shutting the lights maybe had an impact, but that could have been overridden by industry using power or people heating their homes," she said.

Indeed, Earth Hour was around 12 C colder than during the same period on the previous Saturday.

Julia Langer, director of the WWF's climate change program, said many of the 160 cities that signed up for the event had high-profile backing.

"Toronto, Sydney, Vancouver, Melbourne -- it captured the attention of politicians and others who threw their all into it," she said. "If that didn't happen in Calgary, that might explain why (consumption) didn't go down."

Ald. Brian Pincott, who helped push the city to join in by shutting off non-essential lighting at municipal buildings, said the late promotional start didn't help.

"(Calgarians) knew it was happening," he said. "Whether they actually watched the hockey game in the dark, I don't know."

The season's last Battle of Alberta, with both the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames vying for a playoff spot, started at 8 p.m.