RSSTurn Back Your Clocks, And Use More Energy
Daylight Savings Time ended today, and in the opinion of some of the experts that makes no sense at all. The use of daylight savings costs the country a fortune in energy costs. Popular Mechanics goes into great detail on it this week at their blog.
Although it is observed in most U.S. states and over 70 countries around the world, DST can be pretty unpopular, especially with farmers, Aldrich says. But one thing’s for sure: It does save energy, which, in times of rising oil prices and energy costs, can only be a good thing.
The California Energy Commission has done extensive studies on the effects and energy savings of DST in the Golden State. In 2001, a report by Adrienne Kandel and Daryl Metz determined that having year-round DST (one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time in the winter and two hours ahead in the summer) would reduce electricity use by 1100 MW in the winter and 220 MW in the summer.
“It would save about 1 percent a day, which doesn’t seem like a lot,” Aldrich says. “But I think anything that saves energy so we don’t have to build more power plants is good in the long run. Every little bit helps.”
The federal Department of Energy is currently using Kandel and Metz’s study as a model to see how much the entire country would save on year-round DST. via Popular Mechanics.
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