Earth Hour comes to every time zone at 8:30 PM today. Will it make a difference?
Their website says:
On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. The movement symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in this fight, protecting our future and that of future generations. Learn more about how Earth Hour began, what we’ve accomplished, and what is in store for 2010.
As many WUWT readers know, I’m all for energy efficiency and conservation when applied in a meaningful way. For example, a few months back, I retrofitted my home with some very cool LED recessed lighting. You can read my About page to see some of my other energy saving projects.
WUWT readers also know that I’m against Catlinesque stunts. Earth Hour, while born of good intentions, is one of those stunts that really doesn’t amount to any long term meaningful energy savings. In fact it doesn’t really even amount to any short term savings.
For example, last year, according to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Earth Hour made zero difference to the California power consumption. Zero, zip, nada. Have a look at the graph:
Big Hat tip to Roger Sowell for the graphs:
Some greens were quick to point out “but look the power dropped then”.
Yah, it does that every day about that time:
If there was a big effect from Earth Hour, you’d see a step event as everybody turned off their lights in Califonia. Plus, the greens don’t seem to realize that no power plants get switched off, so there’s really no CO2 savings. The power plants are run based on demand forecast. Short term spikes from well intentioned stunts really don’t make a blip of difference to Co2 emissions.
For WUWT readers that wish to track this year’s California Earth Hour impact in real time, you can visit the CAISO tracker:
http://www.caiso.com/outlook/SystemStatus.html
Have fun. Let us know what you did for Earth Hour.
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UPDATE: Thanks to a commenter challenge, I was obliged to look for some other real-time power monitoring locations, this one in Ontario Canada for example:
http://www.ieso.ca/imoweb/siteShared/demand_price.asp?sid=ic
For a fun project, WUWT readers can find their own local power reporting website and post up results here, and I’ll do a new post showcasing the effects of Earth Hour worldwide.
To post images or screencaps in comments use http://www.tinypic.com/ or a similar service and just paste the full image URL in the comments, no tags needed. – Anthony
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Most generating capacity would just keep on generating as it cannot be switched off for an indeterminate short period. Now if people of that bent really wanted to make a difference they would detach from their electricity supply for at least a month or sign up to have their supply limited every hour 24/7 to only that percentage being produced that hour by ‘renewable’ ‘green’ energy. That might concentrate a few minds.
I hope the polar bears don’t celebrate Earth Hour by eating the Catlin expedition.
http://www.catlinarcticsurvey.com/news.aspx?newsid=27
I believe if EVERYBODY turned off ALL their lights at the same time, it could cause havoc to the electrical grid. A sudden drop in electrical load enmass followed an hour later by a sudden spike in electrical load cannot be good.
This is not true for Ontario, it made a big difference to electric generating, they had to nearly shut down the hydro plants to cope with the lack of demand. The atomic and fossil fuel plants take time (I read at least 3 hours) to substantially change the output of those plants buy the hydro plants are as simple as closing a valve. I remember that in the UK, when coronation St was big there was a huge spike in water and power demand after it finished, half the country put the kettle on and had a wee! the trouble is these things are trendy and not real so are not thought out.
I was trying to find out the exact meaning of “Catlinesque” but was unable to, I get its contextual meaning but cannot find it in a dictionary, any clues?
REPLY: Do a search in WUWT for “Catlin Expedition”. The goal of Earth Hour is CO2 reduction via electric power reduction. Note their focus on “climate” in verbiage. Hydro doesn’t make CO2 anyway. – Anthony
UPDATE:
Since you think it made a big difference in Ontario, let’s watch the real time Ontario demand website this year to see if that is true:
http://www.ieso.ca/imoweb/siteShared/demand_price.asp?sid=ic
– Anthony
We have visitors in town. Our plan is to turn on every electric device in the house and let the cars idle–that’s what we think of this craziness. I’m all for rational conservation but, we will not bow down to the irrational, economicaly suicidal green radicals.
Of course, that’s what the smart meter program is all about.
The government will be able to shut your power off at any
time. This will show you what a big difference killing all
power can do and, who’s in charge.
This is what I have done for Earth Hour…publish a blog 😎
“Why I will not turn the lights off for Earth Hour”
http://bit.ly/c9DW3f
Classic form over substance!
If everyone did turn off all their power use for an hour, when they all turned it back on at the end of the hour would it not look like a dead short to the sub-stations? That would flip the station off line, pushing back onto the supply which would in turn go off-line, with no where to send the power the nuclear stations auto-shutdown; this is what happened a couple of years ago in the feeder loop through Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Ontario. A dead-short on a main line took out the whole game. It took a day to get power back and a week and a half to bring most of the generation back on line (nuclear tool two and half weeks).
It would be interesting if the Earth Hour stunt shut down CA for a couple of weeks and the greens could not keep their blogs up to date or send their press releases.
A better approach might be to just turn off power in all of Norway for, say, a week every year. We could start in summertime, and then each year move to week more and more into winther.
Why?
It would perhaps make everyone appreciate more what we have, instead of taking it for granted. We are all taking too much for granted, every day. And it makes us forget what / who we have to thank for it…..
Chris Edwards (08:57:05) :
“This is not true for Ontario, it made a big difference to electric generating, they had to nearly shut down the hydro plants to cope with the lack of demand. ”
Any verifiable stats, or just media hype? A chicken/egg scenario: hydro power reduced in sympathy?
Are we to do away with books and medicine next? The invention of the electric lightbulb was a great boon to humanity. Do these people advocate a return to darkness?
Bye the bye: are they going to shut off the lights in the high crime areas?
Here in Finland they say the 2009 event had a significant effect on power consumption, but that’s not really the point.
Turning off the lights is demonstrating that people care about their planet and are ready to accept some changes in order to protect it..
Ice Age Avengers blog about the Earth Hour coming at Mount Rushmore and has some good suggestions:
IceAgeAvenger.blogspot.com
The biggest energy users in a home are not the lights; they are motors and heaters– refrigerator motors, refrigerator mullion heaters, water pumps, air conditioners, furnace blowers, electric stoves, microwaves, hair dryers, water heaters, etc. The prize for the biggest loads right at 8:00 PM probably goes to dishwashers and clothes dryers.
It’s not just homes per se causing the peak either; when all of you get home at 6:00 and start flushing toilets all of the sewage lift stations are going to be kicking on too. All of the street lights are kicking on. Store Marquees are lighting up.
I turn on extra lights every year during earth hour just to protest the silliness of it all!
Sure, it will make a difference – smug levels will shoot up, while people burn candles and use battery-powered lights, etc., all in an effort to relieve themselves of their “carbon guilt”.
We don’t believe in the “carbon footprint” theology, but even if we did, ours would be spectacularly low already. So, we won’t be participating in a faux event, which accomplishes nothing, all in a vain attempt to tackle a faux problem.
27 03 2010
Andrew30 (09:04:54) :
“…happened a couple of years ago in the feeder loop through Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Ontario.”
Correct, I remember that (Cleveland) – I think tree maintenance and improper balancing was part of the problem. The tender Greens without power for any length of time? – the thought just made my day!
A local bar is having a “Power Hour”. turning on all the lights and offering a free drink to anyone who turns up (pardon the pun) with an appliance that can be plugged into an electrical output. It seems some people are seeing power hour as an opportunity to protest.
Well meaning lefties ought to cut their heat in winter and especially cut the air in summer. That is if they wanted to make a difference themselves. But the disconnect is they have been led to believe its the evil oil and that all these cuts in emissions have are victimless crimes when they need to consume less its always somebody else who has to cut and them who has to cut their thermostat.
It’s nice to have the choice. During the next decade in the UK we may have more earth hours than we want.
http://www.energy-savingnews.com/2009/02/uk-hurtling-towards-energy-shortage-shutdown/
The United Kingdom is still facing a massive energy generation gap in the next decade and the Government is failing to properly address the issue, according to a top industry executive.
I was planning on renting a yard full of sky search lights, but it appears “the damage we have inflicted on the planet” is eternal. We’re all doomed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/geology/7528264/Earth-entering-new-age-of-geological-time.html
“On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. ”
….because you’re a PEASANT and deserve to sit shivering in the dark.
I am sooooo tired of this “green” environmentalism that is long on hype and short on rational thinking.A one hour twinkie exercise is a total waste of cheap emotionalism.
If they really cared that much about power consumption,they they should strongly support groups such as the Dark Sky association and other groups trying to persuade buyers in choosing alternative home designs,that really use far less heating and cooling than the standard.
WHEN will people finally stop wanting energy hogging homes (with massive over use of windows and lack of sloping roofs to keep direct sun out of the windows) and look for those that deliberately use passive solar heating and even berm 3 sides of a house that makes for the ultimate and yet cheaper insulation.
We are far smarter than this greenie bullcrap and hopefully people the world over get serious about their home designs and stop using street lights and businesses lights in cities that are nearly ghostowns during the night.Why not shut the freaking lights off outdoors at night when almost everybody is at home sleeping?
Gosh I could go on into a rant,but why bother since hardly anybody is truly that interested in greater efficiency of power consumption anyway.
I am tired of the greenie talk,but when will they ever take the walk?
Because I’m so sick and tired of stupid, eco-greenie halfwits telling me what to do or what not to do, I make a concerted effort to go against the grain, as it’s the only way I can actively protest about the sheer stupidity of it all. So on “meat free Mondays” it’s a roast with all the trimmings, and “earth hour” is the time to turn every conceivable thing on, just for the hell of it, and sod the expense. If these people want to live in the dark, huddle round a candle, dress in hair shirts and eat lentils, they can get on with it – I want no part of it. Maybe they should ALL up sticks, and find a deserted island and start a commune somewhere, and they can all go and live in their self-imposed “Nirvana” and the rest of us can continue to live our lives, making good use of all the electricity we are blessed with, unmolested.
Hmmmmmmmm……by the response here at WUWT it occurred to me that it would be very amusing if electricity demand INCREASED for “earth hour”! Now, that would REALLY make my day.