Having fun with Earth Hour?

Thanks astrojax! Most of our candles are imported from China, and heaven knows where they source the fat, so I imagine there’s a bit of a footprint there …

candles – one for one, they’re more carbon intensive, yes, but it depends on the nature of electricity supply to give a definitive answer. but of course, if all you do is burn one candle and sit with tv, stereo, computer, all other lights, etc switched off, then the carbon footprint will be reduced from your ‘habitual’ podal imprint…

I-filed said :

Does anyone know the comparison between burning a candle and an incandescent globe? I’ve been told that candles are far worse …and people keep boasting that they will spend Earth Hour by candle-light …

from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candle

A modern candle typically burns at a rate of about 0.105 g/min, releasing heat of about 77 W, plus or minus about 9 W. The light produced is about one lumen. The luminous efficacy is about 13 millilumens per watt (luminous efficacy of a source), a thousand times lower than an incandescent light bulb.

wiki referenced this pdf for that number http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire05/PDF/f05141.pdf

what really bugs me is the wholesale getting rid of incandescent globes in favour of CF globes because in some applications using an incandescent globe uses less electricity than a CF globe.

Does anyone know the comparison between burning a candle and an incandescent globe? I’ve been told that candles are far worse …and people keep boasting that they will spend Earth Hour by candle-light …

I’m tempted to set up a couple of spotlights out the front 😀

Regarding the comments about tokens, it seems to me some are tokens of significant past events and some are tokens of significant future aspirations and in the case of the future tokens, like Earth Hour and Clean Up Australia Day, if progress isn’t seen then it does seem to trigger cynicism in some people. Like me 🙁
I’d like to see some feedback of how many people are actually remembering to change their habits throughout the year, and also something new each year, like a “let’s replace our sink disposal unit with a worm farm” theme or a “let’s throw out our plug-in air fresheners” theme or “let’s see what we’ve got around the house that can be switched over to some kind of solar powered operation” theme. We are still such a long way from really questioning the choices we make, and one feel-good hour doesn’t seem enough. I think I-filed might even have a point that sometimes there might be a “Prius effect”.

as the population increases and we build more and more houses, offices, schools, factories, shops, etc we need more and more capacity.

“It doesn’t matter if our infrastructure is used more efficiently – it’s the same sized infrastructure!”

I think the intent of Earth Hour is to make people have a bit of a think about their energy use; last year for Earth Hour I walked around the house and turned off ‘passive’ appliances (appliances that are usually running whilst not in use – washing machine, microwave, DVD etc…) and I have kept them off when not in use ever since (although I miss my timer on the microwave). Little things, small savings … but savings all the same. I just hadn’t thought about the energy-wastage factor previously.

We should use more energy, to create a need for new power stations, which of course should be renewable (I’m only half joking)

Earth Hour is unfortunate. It has its own version of the “Prius effect” – instead of cutting back car use, people drive a Prius as many kms as they ever drove their old car – and quite possibly more. “Oh, I can take the car to the local shops. It’s a Prius”. With Earth Hour, it’s “I’m doing my bit! I’m contributing!” Earth Hour is dangerous tokenism. It’ll be incandescents on as usual at my place …

…growing demand, that is.

That’s not what I said at all. What I said is that:
a) Earth Hour doesn’t actually save electricity, because it is being produced anyway; and
b) Grid capacity has to continually increase to meet growing.

Frankly, turning off a few lights saves stuff all in the scheme of things. Instead of publicity stunts like this, let’s see some smarter solutions.

It doesn’t actually logically follow that if people use less energy it does no good, due to population increases, but never you mind.

Eg. due to current water restrictions we manage to use less water now than we did when Canberra had far less people.

Yes but if expected capacity shrinks over time they can cut back on the grid.

It’s a nice thought, but not particularly realistic. As the population increases and we build more and more houses, offices, schools, factories, shops, etc we need more and more capacity.

“Candlelit trivia” – that’s total bullshi+, instead they will be contributing to overall CO2 emmissions using candles.

If the Greens are serious about making a serious contribution to Earth Hour then they ought to be sitting in pitch darkness for the totally of the hour.

Read this (scientific breakdown of emissions from an candle vs. electric light bulb):
http://enochthered.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/earth-hour-candles-and-carbon/

[…cue ‘twilight zone’ intro music…]

isn’t this all a bit deja vu, like all over again? threads about, ooh let me guess, about a year ago..?

spooky, this place, i tell ya…

I see that the Canberra times had a 12 page “Earth Hour” suppliment today. The power, water, trees, and transportation in the creation of that will negate the effects of any lights being switched off.

finance is doing a trial run of turning off non essential items on one day
did not realise this was such a difficult task that could only be done once a year to feel good

The amount of advertising resulting in the energy required to print paper and electricity and the effort (in energy) to make and transmit advertisements on television in my opinion will negate the power saved during the Hour. But I agree it is more of an awareness campaign and a token gesture rather than anything more substantial to saving energy consumption. I also agree it is token like Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day, etc. If you don’t believe it then don’t.

midlife said :

I might run around the house turning everything on as a protest against the multinationals. Isn’t that how it works?

Only if you do it naked…

midlife said :

How about this for commitment? Department of Finance and Deregulation is even having a trial run! No thanks I gave at the office.

Finance will be participating in the global warming awareness initiative – Earth Hour – taking place in Australia and around the world on Saturday, 28 March 2009.

Finance has registered to be involved in Earth Hour. We will be turning off our lights in the John Gorton Building, Treasury Building, Minter Ellison Building and Tourism House.

To ensure that our participation in this event is effective, we will run a trial of our Earth Hour strategy on Sunday, 22 March 2009.

What can staff do to ensure that both the trial and the event are successful ?

All staff can assist with this event by doing three things before leaving work this evening:

Turn off all non-essential lights and computers;
Close all blinds around your workstation and nearby meeting rooms; and
Turn off all non-essential appliances and equipment in your office areas (except fridges and freezers).

We would also encourage all staff to participate in the event at home. If you would like to do so, more information, including registration details, can be found at the Earth Hour website.

Are the staff at Finance such avid readers of RA that staff notices are now being posted here instead of the traditional methods within the building? Sure looks like it judging by this post.

Yes but if expected capacity shrinks over time they can cut back on the grid.

I think the amount of crusty old cynics who use more power due to contempt for Earth Hour would be a lot less than keen students who might consider better habits for life due to Earth Hour.

But we’ll never know for sure.

How about this for commitment? Department of Finance and Deregulation is even having a trial run! No thanks I gave at the office.

Finance will be participating in the global warming awareness initiative – Earth Hour – taking place in Australia and around the world on Saturday, 28 March 2009.

Finance has registered to be involved in Earth Hour. We will be turning off our lights in the John Gorton Building, Treasury Building, Minter Ellison Building and Tourism House.

To ensure that our participation in this event is effective, we will run a trial of our Earth Hour strategy on Sunday, 22 March 2009.

What can staff do to ensure that both the trial and the event are successful ?

All staff can assist with this event by doing three things before leaving work this evening:

Turn off all non-essential lights and computers;
Close all blinds around your workstation and nearby meeting rooms; and
Turn off all non-essential appliances and equipment in your office areas (except fridges and freezers).

We would also encourage all staff to participate in the event at home. If you would like to do so, more information, including registration details, can be found at the Earth Hour website.

I might run around the house turning everything on as a protest against the multinationals. Isn’t that how it works?

It doesn’t even really save energy, because the electrical grid is still being run at expected capacity – some people just draw a bit less off it. And with so many energy saving light globes, the effectiveness of such an exercise is dramatically reduced anyway.

I actually think things like this do more damage to the environment than good, because the credibility of the green movement is reduced.

It is also big in Primary Schools – lots of them weren’t even around ten years ago.

AngryHenry said :

Earth Hour is a token gesture and does not really contribute to the well being of the environment one iota.

+1

Oh, and if my bloody daughter goes on about sitting in the dark for an hour, like we did the last time, I’ll point out to her that yesterday she left the house leaving on two lights in her bedroom, the passage lights, her computer, her playstation, which would have been on until she got home from school I hadn’t turned them off….

Call that my contribution..

AngryHenry said :

Yeah maybe you’re right but I think unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past ten years you’d have a pretty good idea as what the situation with the environment is. It seems more like a tool for large corporations to use and say they’re doing their bit.

Well yeah, I agree with you on the corporate angle.

But there are some potential benefits by reminding a whole stack of people about basic energy preservation (turning off lights and computers, etc.) which does, eventually, make a small difference. People do need reminding of this basic stuff on a pretty regular basis because we’re all so conditioned to consume without thinking of the consequences.

Christmas day is a token. It’s all about a celebration of family, food, holidays and (maybe) God. If you don’t care about these things, don’t worry about it.

Anzac day is a token. It’s all about remembering the Australian soldiers who fought in foreign wars. If you don’t care about it, ignore it.

Earth Hour is a token. It’s all about saving the planet. If you don’t care/don’t believe in it, don’t sweat it.

In my view Earth Hour is a much more worthy token than Fathers Day, Valentines Day, Sorry Day, Halloween and many others , but somehow I have learned to deal dealt with it. Good luck to them.

Earth Hour isn’t intended to cure climate change in one hour.

But it must contribute a couple of iotas towards saving energy.

And it will have some ongoing effects into the future, as people think more about the energy they use.

Jim Jones said :

I dunno AH. I agree entirely that Earth Hour itself doesn’t actually contribute to the wellbeing of the environment. But might it not do some good as an awareness raising kind of thing?

Yeah maybe you’re right but I think unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past ten years you’d have a pretty good idea as what the situation with the environment is. It seems more like a tool for large corporations to use and say they’re doing their bit.

You really are Angry these days aren’t ya?

I dunno AH. I agree entirely that Earth Hour itself doesn’t actually contribute to the wellbeing of the environment. But might it not do some good as an awareness raising kind of thing?

Earth Hour is a token gesture and does not really contribute to the well being of the environment one iota.