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Earth Hour Tonight

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An hour without security lighting must be a Godsend for our local criminals - probably a red circle day on the calander for the "darker" sides of our communities
 
Looking at actual load changes and assuming that most turned the lights back on at 9pm, I would say the overall drop is roughly as follows (rounded to the nearest 0.5%).

This is somewhat subjective since load is constantly variable anyway.

Qld -2.5%
NSW -1.5%
Vic - 2.0%
Tas - 2.5%
SA - Nil

Sorry but I don't have data for WA and NT.

For some actual facts and figures (make of them what you will). All figures are in MW and are load within the state rather than generation.

19:30 local time 2 weeks ago / today

Qld - 6313 / 5980
NSW/ACT - 9485 / 8612
Vic - 6824 / 5802
Tas - 1209 / 1341
SA - 2278 / 1405

20:30 local time 2 weeks ago / today

Qld - 5876 / 5519
NSW/ACT - 9245 / 7950
Vic - 6758 / 5583
Tas - 1232 / 1328
SA - 2234 / 1375

Looking at those figures, seems to be a small effect in Qld, NSW, Vic and Tas but again nothing really happened in SA.

The above data half way through the event suggests a larger drop in NSW than does my estimate based on what happened at 9pm. So the overall effect seems to be 2 - 5% depending on what assumptions you make etc.

Some official figures are being compiled but again they have the problem that each day is different anyway to it's not a simple exercise to compare with / without Earth Hour. Weather is a far greater driver of overall demand than Earth Hour and no two Saturday nights have exactly the same weather (needs to be recent to avoid skewing due to economic growth etc) which makes a fair analysis difficult.

Qld and Tas have a high proportion of industrial load which will tend to mask any drop in household consumption. SA is very much at the other end by both local and world standards - it's one of the few places where residential load is the dominant influence on overall consumption. And Earth Hour looks to have been a fizzer in SA.

Overall, I'd accept any figure between 2 and 5% as being valid for total electricity consumption. Too many complexities to be any more precise than that. Any claim of 10, 20% etc is either outright wrong or is looking only at part of the grid with a high concentration of city buildings etc and not at the grid and power stations as a whole.
 
TheIceMan said:
what a load of hogwash that was.

it was so symbolic, I'm suprised some labour strategist hasn't adopted it as govt policy yet.
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Ice Man, you are clearly not up to speed! They just love it. Even heard the good Mr Rudd all the way from America this evening saying what a great idea it was. Ah, we just love symbolism. Sounds great to the masses but we don't actually have to do a thing.
 
TheIceMan said:
2020 - I think your street is in darkness because everyone else has gone out.

Just love those in todays paper who were asked whether they would turn their lights off. Answer: I would if I was home but I'm going out tonight.

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Anecdotally, there do seem to be quite a few more people out and about tonight. There was actually a bit of a party feel (NYE style) around town and that was only at 8:30.

Considering all the taxis, cars etc being used I suspect that total CO2 emissions have probably increased overall. Less from power stations, more from exhaust pipes.
 
I think they may have missed a great photo opportunity (will have to check my papers tomorrow).

Can you imagine, Penny Wong and Peter Garrett cuddled up on the banks of Sydney harbour holding a candle, overlooking a silhouette of the harbour bridge.
 
haha,

Nova in Brisbane was tryin to get everyone laid ~

Best way to pass an hour I guess ~ and you don't need any electricity
 
blehgg said:
Best way to pass an hour I guess ~ and you don't need any electricity
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so would they call that man-made GW ? - or woman-made?
What's that old joke?
Do you smoke after intercourse?
Gee, I don't know, - never looked !

smurf said:
Overall, I'd accept any figure between 2 and 5% as being valid for total electricity consumption
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Say Smurf, Thanks for all those calcs / effort

But - Suppose instead of 20% of houses turning off 100% of their lights for one night -
you had 100% of houses turning off 20% of their lights (etc) every night....( i.e. a more reliable thing where the waste power wasn't diverted to making steam.. )
would you not expect a more significant reduction.

(not to mention more efficient off-peak hot water systems etc)

Btw, claims of 10% by Energy Australia ...
then again between 7.30 (when everyone was frantically cooking and/or microwaving) and 8.30, might give a distorted result .

Also 57% participation in sydney according to polling .

http://wwf.org.au/news/congratulations-sydney-earth-hour-2007-results/

 
2020hindsight said:
Btw, claims of 10% by Energy Australia ..
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oops - sorry - did that in a hurry before Insiders
that was 2007 results lol.

Too early for official results for last night (2008) yet apparently.

http://voanews.com/english/2008-03-29-voa4.cfm
 
Nope! Didnt change a thing last night. I guess my question is why the big city buildings need their lights on after say 10pm any night! Imagine how much power that would save.

Over the weekend we were told that BHP's mine up North will be require the equivalent of half of all of South Australia's electricity consumption. And people seriously think turning of their domestic lights will make a difference!

Well, Adelaide experienced a 3,000 year Heat wave event; the average for the first half of March was 37 degrees, so everyone bleated global warming as this was 10+ degrees above average; the last half of March has averaged 19 degrees - which is about 9 degrees below average; and that the average temperature for March was 'AVERAGE'

Does that mean that Adelaide is all done with global warming?
 
well i switched all lights off except for the tv

i consider tv an essential item that provides me with entertainment
 
"Let there be dark"

well it's a damn sight more meaningful than genesis.
I mean day 1 "Let there be light"
and day 4 "Let there be the Sun"
 
Brisbane residents interviewed on ABC Radio this morning drove to the top of Mt Cootha (?spelling) to look at all the lights of Brisbane being extinguished.
They couldn't see any change during the entire hour and got caught in traffic jams both ways.

The point has already been made about candles versus lights.
Here's an extract from yesterday's paper from a reader:

"Every standard sized candle, when burnt completely, releases 15 grams of carbon dioxide whether it is beeswax, soy or paraffin-based. The lady depicted (in a photo) is burning 28 candles, creating more than four times the CO2 supplied by coal power to light one old fashioned 100-watt bulb for an hour."

I wonder if the same people who turned their lights out can say they never go to see - or even participate in - any sort of motor racing?
"Today, 135 cars will be lined up for time trials from 10.30am - 5pm (in Gatton, Qld). It's a popular day because from 6pm there's three hours of burn outs, smoking doughnuts and, to tthe thrill of those who love this skill, an appearance by the master doughnut spinner, RJ Bruno."
(.... from the Courier Mail 29.3.08)
 
The 10% is believable since Energy Australia is looking at only part of the grid - that which doesn't include major industry etc.

It's like a bus company saying public transport use went up 10% whilst ignoring that there was no change in train, ferry or tram use because they're only counting bus passengers.

Yes if there was a 20% reduction in lighting on an ongoing basis then that would make a difference. Lighting is still only a minority of energy use however and will shrink anyway with the move to more efficient lighting.

It's a bit like saying that cutting lawnmower use will save petrol - it will but not by much since mowers aren't the major use anyway. All helps though but to be honest if we're going to encourage consumers to do less of something then switching off workplace comuputers, flying less and driving smaller cars will achieve a lot more than turning off a light or two.
 
The media reporting of the BHP mine issue is, to be perfectly honest, outright sensationalism at its worst.

Bottom line is that they are planning an expansion so need more energy to run it. They're NOT going to leave Adelaide in the dark as a result and nor are they "taking half the state's power". Indeed with Kyoto signed it can't possibly add to total emissions anyway - just as Earth Hour can't lower them because they are fixed at a pre-determined level.

Quite simply, BHP wants to buy something (power) so they're talking to potential suppliers about how to supply it. As long as whatever means they use (1) has emissions counted in Australia's total and (2) doesn't break any laws then it's really a matter between two PRIVATELY OWNED companies. It's not like they're asking the taxpayer to spend on their infrastructure - it's private investment and will presumably have to comply with the rules just like all other privately owned industrial facilities.

The BHP mine expansion represents, if pursued properly, the single best opportunity to get a geothermal industry up and running in Australia. A nice big STEADY load within SA - just what's needed to balance the incredibly peaky load that SA has now. It's that peak which makes power so expensive in SA by the way - unlike industry, householders keep switching their big loads on and off and all do it at much the same time which adds massive costs. Hence Qld etc with more industry has far cheaper power.

Environmentally, the worst possible outcome is that BHP doesn't get the power so just ships the ore overseas to China etc for processing. If that happens then the resultant emissions won't be part of any Kyoto cap and thus will add to total CO2 emissions which isn't the case now in Australia.
 
I was at a birthday party last night and at 8 pm the lovely host lit a heap of candles and turned the lights off for the "make me feel better hour". Most of the candles were of the "tea?" candle type that have the wax contained in a small aluminium cup.

I couldn't help but wonder how much energy had been used in an aluminium smelter somewhere to make that container. Any idea? I suspect our carbon footprint was greater than it would have been if we had left the lights on!
 
agro said:
well i switched all lights off except for the tv

i consider tv an essential item that provides me with entertainment
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You do realise that watching TV in the dark is ergonomically a bad idea? Far too much contrast with a bright small screen against a black background.
 

I didnt actually think they were going to grab all our power and be left in the dark, I guess my point was more that 1 company uses half the power of 2 million domestic users, then really, what we people do domestically just doesnt cut it!

If there is a fixed amount that can be used under the Kyoto protocol, and BHP needs to use it for production, then what exactly, or by whom, must be given back in order for BHP to get the power it needs?

I also read today that Virgin Blue was holding a 3000 strong dinner by candlelight to do their bit last night. Only problem was, people flew in from all around Australia to attend. Hmm!
 
gambier33 said:
I couldn't help but wonder how much energy had been used in an aluminium smelter somewhere to make that container. Any idea? I suspect our carbon footprint was greater than it would have been if we had left the lights on!
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Ever wondered why aluminium smelters are always located where power is cheapest? They are effectively a means of exporting electricity in solid form. Hence smelters in Qld, NSW, Vic, Tas, NZ, South America, Canada etc but none in NT or WA which mine the ore. All run on either hydro or cheap coal.

About 17kWh to make one kilogram of the stuff. And that's just the smelter - turning bauxite into alumina is also very energy intensive.
 
Smurf1976 said:
(Turning off lights) It's a bit like saying that cutting lawnmower use will save petrol - it will but not by much since mowers aren't the major use anyway.
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nice analogy with the mowers.
It's still better to turn out a candle and curse the darkness - but only just

Malcomn Turnbull's Compact fluorescents - his only real ontribution here? - incidentally not a word about their mercury content.

Gee I wish someone would point out the fact that they should not be disposed of in a normal bin! (That goes for Choice Magazine as well).

http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticl...0008&p=1&title=Compact+fluorescent+lightbulbs

PS Earth Hour is a symbolic thing sure - I doubt that the organisers pretend otherwise. It's all about getting a mindset implanted into the populus about waste etc.
 
Smurf1976 said:
but again nothing really happened in SA.

And Earth Hour looks to have been a fizzer in SA.
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Maybe our fellow Australians in SA are less amenable to lemming-like/bandwagon behaviour than elsewhere.

If EH raises awareness then its a good thing, but really, how hard is it to turn out a light when you leave a room etc.? Do this for all the other hours, not just one and we can make a difference ...

BTW thank-you Smurf for the solid information.
 
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