[ March 29, 2008, 03:06 AM: Message edited by: AndrewR ]
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
Apparently that includes the webserver?
Also, what timezone are you talking about? Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
When-ever it's 8pm in your neck of the woods.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Which really doesn't help when the coal plants are still fired up and burning coal, turning the turbines, etc....
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
I rather like my light Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I'd probqably be the only one in my household to do it. I do have some earth savvy friends though. Maybe I'll e-mail the US site around.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Or, y'know...not.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Like the selfish bugger I am I shall run into the (now being rained on streets) crying "Turn on all of your lights to piss off thous pious, hippy, tree-hugging, Toyota Prius driving types".
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Not that there's anything wrong with being a hippie (in theory), or enjoying trees and hybrid vehicles. But making people think they've made some awesome personal contribution to environmentalism by turning off their lights for a few minutes when they're really doing jack shit... That's not helpful.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Maybe it doesn't do jack shit. Perhaps, it a stepping stone, a gateway drug if you will, to get people to do more serious environmental saving things. If tons of people do something as simple as this, they think that they can actually save the planet by doing such EASY things, which soon turn into more complex things...like donating half their paycheck to the national arbor society...
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Except maybe their isn't time for these stepping stones.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
A freaking placebo to cure your cancer?
The only thing you are missing Sean is that people are lazy, otherwise we wouldn't be using fossil fuels or machines.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I'm thinking maybe I should go watch the South Park episode "Smug Alert" at 8 PM. I don't think it's healthy to just sit in the dark by myself for an hour.
I can relate to this whole idea as a promotional stunt, like when companies use pink lights for breast cancer or whatever... but the idea of this act helping the environment is a ridiculous idea. All it means is that the electrical grid will be drawing less energy; the power plants won't really be putting out any less.
And I wonder if local portions of the grid will be subject to a blowout when everyone turns their lights on at the same time come 9 PM...
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Meh. Gaia will maintain homeostasis one way or another. Either we'll invent something cleaner or die out as a species.
Posted by OverRon (Member # 2036) on :
Well I had a 3 hour black-out the other day, so I'm saying that counts as my "Earth Day" quota. Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Well, if we were observing this thing, we wouldn't be talking right now. (or at least some of us wouldn't be)
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Sweet- I'll pull all the plugs at work (kinko's). Maybe be really green and flip the master power breaker.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
It's 10 to 9 here. I'm going to go and look outside and see if I see any lights.
Edit: Well don't I feel the jerk-left-out! Not a single light. And that's *very* unusual around here for a Saturday night.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
I had 40+ of them burning right through the hour. Security lighting probably shouldn't count.
Were your neighbors grazing during that hour?
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Dunno, I couldn't see them, it was dark Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
It's normally dark at nine at night Dan. And when it's dark, you normally can't see. Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Hmmm well the "Earth Hour" people are supposedly calculating the reduction in energy out put required for that one hour. They say it should be equivalent - for one city to turn off most of their lights - equivalent to taking 48,000 cars off of the road for that hour. Supposedly Sydney last year were aiming for 5% reduction - ended up with 10.3% reduction.
I shut my computer off for an hour and most of our lights.
Supposedly one news outlet is saying that the predicted (from registered residents and businesses involved for Earth hour 2008) energy usage drop (in Australia) would be the equivalent of two power stations shutting down for the hour.
I'm not sure if that is per city involved or what.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Now, are they trying to calculate the power not used by the non usage, or are they adding in the power to mine/make the components need to run everything for the entire grid?
A light bulb, for example, has a certain number of hours that it will work for, supposedly. The ones I use are supposedly seven year bulbs, if used 8 hours per day in he perfect environment. So, turning off 20,440 of them for one hour is the equivalent of not manufacturing one bulb. How much energy is 'saved' by not having to make that one bulb and the associated packaging?
Then you could add in the wear on the power meters....
They will say, and manipulate the numbers, to their own ends, everyone does........
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Electricity is too convenient for people to give up, and the oil companies have too much vested interest in oil and coal to switch to hydrogen, and people are too afraid of a meltdown (even though those were flawed Generation I designs) to switch to nuclear. I'm pretty sure nothing's going to change until we run out of so much coal and oil that prices are high enough the oil companies aren't making a profit, because noone can actually afford it anymore.
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I don't think it's healthy to just sit in the dark by myself for an hour.![[Smile]](smile.gif)