Where in the World Isn't Bob Saget?

JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Andrew C said:
Huh?
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The power plants do not cycle down for that one hour, but continue to generate at their regular rate. Years ago, when Earth Hour was still a novel idea, the participation rate in Canada was very high. Literally hundreds of megawatts of energy were generated and had to be off-loaded or stored.

Then, there is the surge on the grid in the five minutes following the end of the hour, which can put a strain on the system, and cause increased emissions.

From a 2012 HuffPo article:
"I have three big problems with Earth Hour and the message it sends. First, some people are going to be very easily disillusioned when they find out that Earth Hour doesn’t actually do anything — on its own — to combat climate change. In fact, in places where lots of people participate, there might even be a small, temporary uptick in emissions. When fossil fuel power plants are forced to rapidly increase or decrease the amount of electricity they produce, they also produce more emissions, just as your car burns more gasoline if you’re rapidly accelerating and decelerating than if you maintain a constant speed.

So, when everybody turns the lights back on at the end of Earth Hour, it means that some coal and natural gas power plants will have to quickly work extra hard to meet that sudden increase in demand. In order to do that, they produce more emissions than they otherwise would have. Now, just as turning your lights off for an hour won’t save the planet, this short-term increase in the emissions output of a few power plants won’t seal our fate, either. Yet there is a real risk that discovering this fact will convince some people to mistrust any effort to get them to change their energy-use behavior."

I like Earth Hour - it's something we did as a family when the kids were little. Often my parents would come over and join us, so for me it's a pleasant nostalgic experience; but let's be honest - it's slacktivism at its finest.
 
acishere

acishere

Well-Known Member
JenniferS said:
Sitting in the dark, with my made at 8:29 p.m. cup of tea, enjoying my scented candles, celebrating Earth Hour. Heck, I even shut off my Christmas lights for the occasion.
Hubby meanwhile, is one floor below me watching March Madness, and Ski is in the basement playing X-Box and blasting music.
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We left lights on and we weren't even home for it.
 

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