Calgary Earth Hour

March 30, 2008 by Daniel Menjívar • #calgary #news #science

In a previous article, I submitted the following comment:

I can’t believe it!
On Monday, Calgary’s City Council voted in favor of Alderman Brian Pincott’s proposal to join Earth Hour.
In the 18 months that I’ve been back in Calgary (from Toronto) I’ve come across a lot of people here that think that the whole climate change "movement" is a farce. I remember in Toronto I’d frequently hear people talking about climate change and how the government isn’t doing enough for the environment, etc. In contrast, I’ve heard so many people here in Calgary that seem to think that it’s all a waste of time and don’t believe it’s a real issue – just a fad… I suppose it’s not convenient to care about the Earth in Alberta though.

Downtown Calgary during Earth Hour 2008 — Calgary’s Earth Hour 2008

Calgary Street – Earth Hour 2008 — Calgary Street – Earth Hour

Michelle and I decided we’d walk up the hill with our dogs to Crescent Road and take in the view of Downtown Calgary during Earth Hour. We took some photos and as you can see, The City of Calgary and downtown businesses really took it to heart! (sarcasm)

I suppose that deep down, we weren’t really expecting to see Calgary do anything, but it is weird that they signed up, only to leave all the lights on… Michelle says she gives Calgary an "e" for effort.

Update – March 30, 2008 @ 5:26pm

According to Enmax, energy consumption in Calgary increased from 1,050 megawatts at 7:45pm to 1,060 megawatts at 8:15pm… At the same times last Saturday, energy consumption was 976 megawatts and 1,023 megawatts respectively.

Update – March 30, 2008 @ 5:58pm

Looking at the numbers a little closer, one could argue that Calgarians actually did consume less energy as a result of Earth Hour:

From 7:45pm to 8:15pm, consumption went up by only 10 megawatts, a 0.95% increase. Compare that with a 47 megawatt or 4.82% increase during the same time frame the week earlier…
You could also argue that if energy consumption typically increases during this time, and a 47 megawatt increase is the average amount it increases by, then consumption actually decreased by 37 megawatts, which is a 78.72% decrease…

You’d be hard-pressed to try to convince me that it was a result of Earth Hour in Calgary though. I just thought I should point it out before someone else does ;-)