Earth Hours kills Gaia faster

LET’S hear it for Earth Hour! Bjørn Lomborg has news of the March 23 homage to the Dark Ages:

In fact, Earth Hour will cause emissions to increase. As the United Kingdom’s National Grid operators have found, a small decline in electricity consumption does not translate into less energy being pumped into the grid, and therefore will not reduce emissions. Moreover, during Earth Hour, any significant drop in electricity demand will entail a reduction in CO2 emissions during the hour, but it will be offset by the surge from firing up coal or gas stations to restore electricity supplies afterwards.

And the cozy candles that many participants will light, which seem so natural and environmentally friendly, are still fossil fuels – and almost 100 times less efficient than incandescent light bulbs. Using one candle for each switched-off bulb cancels out even the theoretical CO2 reduction; using two candles means that you emit more CO2.

Let’s hear it for light!

Anorak

Posted: 18th, March 2013 | In: Global Warming Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink