# Social Category > General Chat Forum >  Earth hour

## Dave A

What will you be doing on 28th March 2009 at 8.30p.m.?

Earth Hour looks like it's going to be a biggie.

My only concern is if it gets *too* big, there better be someone paying close attention to the electrical supply being generated. A big timed switch-off might mean there isn't anything there when it comes time to switch on again!

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## duncan drennan

Holy crap! Eskom is taking part in Earth Hour....




> Meanwhile, the utility stated on Wednesday that it would be taking part in the worldwide Earth Hour climate change awareness programme during the evening of March 28.
> 
> Dr Steve Lennon, MD corporate services and Eskom climate change champion, said that the national “switch-off” event would be a tangible way of demonstrating Eskom’s solidarity and support for the Earth Hour global awareness campaign, designed to stimulate awareness about global warming.


from engineeringnews.co.za

 :Wink:

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## Dave A

At least with it being a Saturday night demand is relatively low anyway. So hopefully this won't result in a "big fry" somewhere.

Next thing - Bearing in mind the goal is to bring attention to climate change, are we all going to burn candles instead?

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## duncan drennan

> Next thing - Bearing in mind the goal is to bring attention to climate change, are we all going to burn candles instead?


Much better to stay in the dark and feel your way around.

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## insulin

Been looking forward to this one! I got a brand new LED flashlight that will last for 20 hours. So darkness be ware. I also took the liberty and made sure I have a lot of these nice new LED lamps for when the power doesnât come back on again.... 

I got my t-bone stake and my gas-powered stove. Also let us not forget my generator that will keep my drinks nice and cool as well. So earth day is not a match for me! I will have light and it will not be harmless candle light Oh no... It will be a petrol driven behemoth that is growling away! It will give of toxic fumes and it will pollute my beautiful garden. But never mind that! It is earth day!!! It is going to create awareness that we need to conserve energy...

Rather This, I know and have done a study on many power systems that can provide large amounts of power for all time really... But no! Butting a working model at every school is not creating awareness. No! Eskom would rather lose millions on Megawatts per hour then to spend a few million on these technologies to show our children how these strange echo generators from the future will look like and work. Never mind the fact that these systems can pump power back into the grid... No total darkness that will get their attentions! That will teach us! 

Look if kids saw their schools to be the only working buildings when the power goes that night it would have made them more aware of the technology than anything else. I think it would have worked better than just total darkness donât you think? 

The fact is I want the environment saved really I do... If I look at the mines eating mother earth like a virus I feel the need to stop that... I do want to stop that... But the only way to stop that is to realize that a echo friendly power-plant is a must. We need to see these things work. Not on television no... Something you can touch and feel and study with the eye...

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## garthu

You know i think the whole "earth day" concept is really going to make some impact - for a change! The last few days i have put some serious thought into planet issues (not going to share them cause i will get castrated on here) . Just so sad that it always boils back to economy/money/selfishness etc (equally myself!). I understand that we need to do so much, more than we think is enough, but can you imagine your estate agent rocking up a bicycle   :EEK!:  How do you really find a SOLID solution for a planet that will eventually fail. The small things, recycle, energy globes etc etc, great start, but that it.. just a start. It has to be extreme to work! Population also has to become negative growth... wow i could ramble on.. but whats big enough to actually work - or more so, that we would accept... sadly i dont think anything

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## twinscythe12332

> At least with it being a Saturday night demand is relatively low anyway. So hopefully this won't result in a "big fry" somewhere.
> 
> Next thing - Bearing in mind the goal is to bring attention to climate change, are we all going to burn candles instead?


that'll be more likely why they're participating in it... to avoid collosal damage  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

and I'm glad my gaming won't be disturbed. PSP for the win

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## Dave A

> Population also has to become negative growth...


That, to me, is the *real* problem at the bottom of a lot of issues - just too many people! It's not sustainable.

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## insulin

Perhaps in time we will find the next generation of power. Still there is a more sinister hand at work. This hand is planning on a 70% drop in human population within our lifetime. The tools that will be used or so I am told is starvation, war, and illness. Sounds like a really bad movie right. Well within this year it will be clearer if the stories that I have will ring true, for now I will stay sceptical. See if you can find a short film called Esoteric Agenda, and just watch it. Yes they do attack a lot of things so watch it with an open mind. After all you can make up your own mind in the end of the story. 

All I will add is that I donât agree with everything but some things is documented fact.

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## duncan drennan

> That, to me, is the *real* problem at the bottom of a lot of issues - just too many people! It's not sustainable.


I've been trying to convince people to stop having sex, but I haven't had a very good response so far - I just can't figure out why  :Huh:

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## Dave A

You're probably doing it wrong  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## garthu

Leading by example? Tried that?  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## twinscythe12332

nothing stops sexytime faster than a random guy running in and slapping the blokes bum while he's putting happiness...

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## duncan drennan

> Leading by example? Tried that?


No, I don't really think population control is effective - all your high level/educated/wealthy people do it (or don't do it, depending what you mean), and everyone else keeps on breeding, then you end up with a concentration of wealth at the top. I reckon education is a natural form of population control, so that's where we need to focus.




> nothing stops sexytime faster than a random guy running in and slapping the blokes bum while he's putting happiness...


Too much information. I'm going to go take a shower now.

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## insulin

Involuntary neutering with a butter knife might stop people from mating. But those human right law thingies might get in the way. Pity that. Anyway, I donât agree that fewer humans will make the world a better place. No I think we must look at technology to give us the ability to construct homes and cities smarter so that more people can take up less space. Also use our technology to generate electricity better and to take care of this big ball of land and water. 

Like it or not if the earth dies... we die with it...

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## garthu

> Like it or not if the earth dies... we die with it...


Of that, no doubt! I cant imagine myself living "smaller" . The confined space of living in Midrand already is a bit much for me and we live in a free standing house. Think i would go potty!

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## insulin

Just remember if we live in small places there are bigger places that will be beautiful and full of life and nature so yes your home might be smaller but you will enjoy a bigger natural beauty thus you will not go mad you will go outside and drive a bit and you will find open space beauty and clean nature now it is a sacrifice but if the outcome is something like this it will be worth it just think you just enjoy small things again like bird watching or fishing.

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## garthu

Hmm ok, see the theory. But i'll take the job managing the park then  :Big Grin:

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## insulin

cool stuff  :Wink:  I also love the outdoors and think that if more people experience nature and the tranquillity it gives. Stress will be a thing of the past... I really belief that.  :Smile:

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## Dave A

Nearly time for the lights to go out.

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## twinscythe12332

oh well, the pool bar I went to definitely wasn't doing the earth hour thing.

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## Dave A

> South Africa saved about 400 megawatts during Earth Hour, Eskom said on Sunday.
> 
> This meant South Africans switched off a total of 4.7 million 60 watt lightbulbs between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday, as part of a global initiative for action against climate change, said spokesman Fani Zulu.
> 
> "This also means one unit of power at each of our small power stations was saved," he said.
> full story from IOL here


Not massive, but reasonable I suppose.

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## Marq

I'm still confused on this story... :Confused: 

If Eskom is generating electricity anyway for the day and if you don't use it you lose it - what is actually saved?

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## Dave A

It isn't a case of use it or lose it. Eskom has to balance supply against demand all the time by ramping production up or down.

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## Marq

Yes, I assume they do this....but

I would also imagine that the increase or decrease is a slow affair. So we all switch off the lights now but they (pestkom) are still geared for normal usage - so there is in effect no saving cause its coming down the wire anyway. The coal has already been burned on a usual expected pattern basis.

If there is to be an earth hour, should it not come from the source? 
Sort of like load shedding...thats forced earth hours. The rest of the world gave up an hour.....we gave up many hours and many Rands and its rumoured to be starting again come after election time....so why the big fuss down here in sunny SA on this earth hour issue?

We need a better idea than switching off the lights for an hour. We need the technology that the power companies hold back from us as they make us more reliant on earths resources. We need governments to see this picture and we need them to stop the grime and corruption as they defend the power companies and organised crime. We need the powers that count to get involved with solar/wind/sea/free energy ideas and to stop trying to rip of the masses by selling us stuff that should be available to all at reasonable prices anyway.

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duncan drennan (01-Apr-09)

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## duncan drennan

> I would also imagine that the increase or decrease is a slow affair. So we all switch off the lights now but they (pestkom) are still geared for normal usage - so there is in effect no saving cause its coming down the wire anyway. The coal has already been burned on a usual expected pattern basis.


My understanding is that the coal fired stations can react relatively quickly to this type of load change (although turning one from scratch can take days, hence Eskom tends to keep them running).

I don't see Earth Hour as an attempt to achieve a saving, but rather an attempt to achieve two things,

1) Heighten awareness of how we use energy (I think most in SA became acutely aware of this over the past two years, but I still wonder how many have actually taken any kind of action).

2) Create what is effectively a protest action against the way governments are dealing with energy and the use of natural resources. This protest action will hopefully put political pressure on the decision makers at the Copenhagen climate change conference later this year, where replacement policies for the Kyoto protocol will be decided on.

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## Dave A

> we gave up many hours and many Rands and its rumoured to be starting again come after election time....


I'm afraid to say that given the rather nasty voltage readings my electricians have been finding, there is pretty good circumstantial evidence to suggest an order *has* gone out to Eskom that they shalt not loadshed - no matter what.  :EEK!: 

Gives new meaning to election power. Next time you hear someone whine that their vote is worthless, please give them a slap from me. There's lots of money to be made in low voltage burnouts.

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## duncan drennan

Some cool pictures of Earth Hour [via Urbansprout]

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Dave A (03-Apr-09)

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## Dave A

Some really good support there. I went wandering outside to see if there was a visible difference in my neck of the woods - nothing really noticeable, I'm afraid.

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## garthu

Same here.. we switched our lights off etc, just left a stereo on only. Had a look outside and must say felt very alone

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## insulin

In retrospect earth hour was over ambiguous and if left up to interpretation one may say it did not achieve anything. Once you realize that industry is just playing the earth game because they are legally forced to do so conveys a clear message. Fact is industry will dump poison into our rivers if someone didnât stop them from doing it. Perhaps the inconvenient truth is that no-one cares about the environment.  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## twinscythe12332

Well, we're slowly living longer and longer than we used to (what with our health advancements), and there are less threats to our existence. It's all good saying that cars are emitting gases, and plants are creating wonderful smogs above our cities, but we still have to consider that there are more people on the earth and there is a direct relationship between the number of people and the number of emissions. 

One of the adverts on animal planet features a cow making farts, and requesting for us to eat more greens and less cows so that emissions are less. Surely WE then replace the cows in terms of emissions through our own posteriors. 

Another issue I have is with body heat. When you're in your car, it's fairly cold, and you're driving to work, the windscreen fogs up because you're producing heat. same thing happens in a crowded area. Imagine a room with an aircon and 100 people. the room is just big enough to fit all of them in comfortably. The effect of the aircon is countered by the people's own body heat. now take 99 of them out and leave one guy in there and he gets cold. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though we've got people trying to "go green," the problem isn't just what we do and how we do it. it's also us in general.

The other way of putting it is We're f**cked already  :Big Grin:

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## duncan drennan

> It's all good saying that cars are emitting gases, and plants are creating wonderful smogs above our cities, but we still have to consider that there are more people on the earth and there is a direct relationship between the number of people and the number of emissions.


Well, there is the problem. It is not about cars and gasses and coal and CO2 – the problem is actually all about people, and health and our well-being.

The whole carbon issue is a big marketing disaster – the word is out, but the message is broken. There is so much more to say here, but I'd need a day (or maybe a few years) to write about it. It is all about moving towards a better life (and all the benefits of it), rather than losing something – like exercise versus dieting. Measure what is important and we might start getting somewhere.

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## insulin

The fact is one eruption from an active volcano does more harm in a single day then what we can do in a month. That is excluding nuts with nuclear bombs. Now you see the problem is not people we are not the problem the problem is greed. Thanks to greed we have no equilibrium thus the one will destroy the other and this is fact... as long as we think money is important well forget it we will not see the next 100 years sorry.  :EEK!:

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## twinscythe12332

> The fact is one eruption from an active volcano does more harm in a single day then what we can do in a month. That is excluding nuts with nuclear bombs. Now you see the problem is not people we are not the problem the problem is greed. Thanks to greed we no equilibrium thus the one will destroy the other and this is fact... as long as we think money is important well forget it we will not see the next 100 years sorry.


still going to take at least one person to push the button  :Wink:

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## Loman

Can't we try to get a negative population growth rate?
It might work if we had another 500 years left to work with.
Another option might be to nuke china = 2 billion gone.
A third of all people gone. But all the cheap Chinese tech would also be gone.

Dunno what options we have left. Perhaps it will all end in a Battlefield 2142 scenario.
Or we should just start shooting already. 
Anyone got a .338 Lupa Magnum i could borrow? Or a M24?

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## twinscythe12332

well, if it follows the fallout 3 way of looking at it, china blasts US, US blasts china, china somehow turns into super mutants and come to the US looking to cause pain and eat flesh of the survivors  :Big Grin:

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## insulin

Again with the killing of the people thing... Stop thinking of how you are willing to take down everything that farts and start thinking on how we can do things differently. Yes we can do with a bit of birth control. But the truth is we need to change. Our mindset on how to grow food must change. Our bodies must become healthy and our minds focused rather than be a bunch of pub crawling idiots. Humans have mind and therefore we have the power. It is time to let go of money and stuff. Itâs time to realize that we have a much bigger responsibility at hand. It is time for change...

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## insulin

twinscythe12332 I loved Fallout 3 and am still playing it but I donât do missions anymore I just play my own survivor game where I go find food and trade and stuff. I thought that if the game developers realized that people will actually play a survivor vision and just do update missions from the net that this game have the potential to become the best game ever.  

Also fallout 3 shows the human spirit to survive and how little we need to actually live a good life. I loved this game and it will remain a classic in my eyes for years to come. Also think about it... it fits into the green earth mentality in a twisted way so yes... Cool stuff...

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