Earth Hour NS Redux

Did Nova Scotia actually do well during Earth Hour 2010? At first glance, the reported numbers sounded pretty good, but my neighbourhood didn't seem to be paying all that much attention to it. Time for a reality check.

I always understand energy savings best when I convert it into dollars and cents. So let's do the math.

18-megaWatts saved over one hour = 18,000kWh

1 kWh costs roughly 11 cents so 18,000kWH x $0.11/kWh = $1980

This is, unfortunately, trivial. And not in the good, this will be a question later, way.

This amount of savings is roughly half of one household's electric use for the year (if they have electric heat) and akin to removing 19 or 20 dryers from the province for a year. Or removing 35-40 stoves from daily operation for one year.

NS Power's 1.4 million lightbulb figure is also a bit misleading. While it would take 1.4 million 13-watt bulbs to be turned off to account for the savings, it shrinks dramatically if it were measured in 100 Watt incandescent bulbs (only 180,000), or in 42" televisions (only 36,000). Think of the environmental impact we would have if every Nova Scotian gave up watching one 3-hour hockey broadcast per year.

Similarly, 1.4 million bulbs over one hour is the same as turning off a measly 384 13-watt bulbs for only ten hours a day for a year... That one light store featured yesterday could probably tackle that kind of savings by installing a few timers. As would any single grocery store that leaves its lights on all night.

While I still firmly support the message behind Earth Hour, I think my initial applause should be muted. The real success of the event will be to see others change their habits on a regular basis through the year. Is it necessary for our bridges to be lit every night from midnight to 6:00am? (The road lights were still on, so it's not a safety issue.) Is there more that we should be doing on an ongoing basis? Definitely.

Earth Hour is done for 2010, and it appeared to raise a lot of awareness but evidentally, not much actual energy savings. Let's use this information to make some real changes on a daily basis. I for one will be installing a new clothes line in the next few days. What will you do?

Share on Facebook

Earth Hour Corporate Winners and Losers

While on our brief tour of the scenes of Earth Hour 2010, we thought we'd check out a few local establishments in our neighbourhood. I'd seen a fair amount of advertising this year and wasn't surprised to see a lot of big, national chains participating.

Very close to our home, the main grocery store, Sobeys, had shut down all of its exterior lighting, as did the Canadian Tire. The local port even shut down roughly half of its pole-mounted spotlights, which dramatically reduced the amount of light pollution in the area. The clear winner though, was the big burger chain we love to hate. The local McDonald's killed all of the exterior lighting and was still managing to have a full drive-thru line.

Disappointingly, despite a whole lot of advertising at other locations, the local Tim Hortons nearest my home was not participating. All of the exterior lights were on and it did not look like any particular effort was taken. Unfortunately, this oversight was not the worst that I witnessed. While en route to get my photo of the bridge, we came across the travesty pictured at the right. This lighting store on Lady Hammond Road was effectively surrounded in darkness, but was glowing from within with a electric meter-spinning intensity. While the logistics for dealing with such a situation must be substantial, the fact that this many lights are on all night, every night is most concerning.

Earth Hour is done for 2010, but there is obviously work to be done. Perhaps an e-mail to this business owner is in order.

Share on Facebook

Earth Hour Results for Nova Scotia

This was posted today on the NS Power website. For a relatively small province with a population of roughly a million people, this is pretty good. How did other areas fair?

Again this year, Nova Scotians demonstrated their support for Earth Hour 2010 by turning off their lights. System operators at Nova Scotia Power’s energy control centre reported an 18-megawatt reduction in power consumption between 8:30pm and 9:30pm on Saturday evening. This represents an equivalent savings of more than 1.4 million 13-watt compact florescent light bulbs.

Stay tuned for Lower Footprint's corporate winners and losers...

Share on Facebook

Earth Hour 2010 Is Done!

MacKay Bridge

Earth Hour 2010 went by a lot faster than previous years. I was disappointed to see only one of my immediate neighbours participating, but I guess that means my example might have been noticed.

As usual, we turned off the power for the entire house by flipping off the main breaker. We then lit a fire and settled in to play a board game by solar lights. It actually felt a bit like cheating as there are quite a number of solar lights in the house now and it was quite bright!

MacKay Bridge without lights

Unlike previous years, I wanted to capture a few photographs from around the city during Earth Hour. I'll post a little later about the corporate "winners" and "losers" from the local vicinity, but for now, have a look at the MacKay Bridge without lights. The second photo is much more indicative of the effect, but the first is just a nicer photo. Realize that both are time delay photos, otherwise they would simply be black.

Share on Facebook

Earth Hour 2010 Almost Here

In a little over 3 hours, we'll be powering down the entire house for our extended version of Earth Hour. This is the third year that I've been a participant and that means taking the power for the whole house right down to zero.

In the meantime, we have a few things to do to get ready. Dig out a few candles and wind-up flashlights, fire up the wood stove (because it is very cold today!), and get some snacks ready for some fun. Like the good folks over at Things To Do For Two, we'll probably settle down with a few rounds of board games like Blockus and Ticket To Ride.

What are you going to do?

Share on Facebook

Earth Hour 2010 Under Way Internationally

Earth Hour 2010 takes place at 8:30pm local time tonight, but it is already well underway around the world!

Check out these great shots from the various events that have already happened earlier today:

Earth Hour Flickr Photostream

Share on Facebook

Earth Hour is This Saturday!

Today I thought I would highlight some of the local events connected with Saturday's Earth Hour celebrations!

Nova Scotia Power has a page dedicated to Earth Hour, including a countdown and links to some activity ideas for while the lights are out! Also included on the page are links to year-round energy saving tips, plus details about NS Powers plans to turn off the office lights for the event as well. Check back to this page to see the results. NS Power will be posting them after the event!

There is also word of a concert happening at the Parade Square in downtown Halifax. Here are the details:

Come and celebrate Earth Hour this year at Grand Parade Square in front of City Hall in Halifax and join us for a FREE CONCERT by ECMA winning artists: Sons of Maxwell and Dave Gunning!

WWF-Canada, Atlantic Region will be joined by Mayor Peter Kelly, Conserve Nova Scotia, and CarShareHFX for this family-oriented event.

Astronomy Nova Scotia will be also on site with their telescopes for stargazing.

Date: Saturday, March 27, 2010
Time: 7:30pm – 10:00 pm (Earth Hour is 8:30pm - 9:30pm lights out)
Location: Grand Parade in front of City Hall, Halifax, NS

Lots to do! How are you going to observe Earth Hour this year?

Share on Facebook

Earth Hour 2010 Countdown Video

Earth Hour 2010 is almost here... have a look at this cool video which includes footage of lights out events since 2008. Enjoy!

Share on Facebook

Earth Hour 2010 Countdown

As we approach Earth Hour 2010, I thought it would be fun to do a quick review of the last one. There are some great images of some major cities during last year's Earth Hour.

Source: Boston.com via Earth Hour Canada

Some are obviously more impressive than others, but even a modest change in lighting can result in both big savings and less energy production. One of the main lessons here for me is that we can routinely do with a little less. A few lights turned off, a few appliances not running and we're making a small but real difference - without a catastrophic change in lifestyle.

In other Earth Hour news, at least one Tim Hortons in my area is observing the power down to some extent. Signs are up already so customers are well prepared... more to come.

Share on Facebook