After a countdown worthy of New Year's Eve, streets and skyscrapers turned off the Saturday night lights in Bangkok for an hour in a rolling, worldwide awareness effort dubbed Earth Hour.
Many tall buildings were dark for the hour, along with six main roads - Silom, Yaowarat, Khao Sarn, Sukhumvit, Phetchaburi and Ratchadaphisek. Three major landmarks went dark: Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn), Rama VIII Cable Bridge, and Ratchadamnoen Avenue.
Overall, results were both unimpressive and disappointing.
The city estimated it manged to cut electricity consumption by 165 megawattrs, and slashed emissions of carbon dioxide by 102 tonnes.
But this was far below a mere 15-minute lights-out campaign sponsored by the Bangkok administration last May, which saved 530Mw of power and cut CO2 emissions by 143 tonnes.
Life continued fairly normally during the blackout. Most indoor lights remained on - many of them subdued.
The BTS and subway trains continued as normal, and traffic lights continued to operate.
Before the blackout, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority estimated it would save 500,000 baht worth of power, equal to approximately one hour's power generation by the Pak Moon dam.
But Banpot Sangkeo, assistant governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) said public participation in Earth Hour dropped from last year.
"However, the Earth Hour campaign is a wake-up call for Bangkok residents that we must do something to save energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
The Bangkok blackout followed similar environmental awareness programmes in Sydney and Manila.
As intentional darkness jumped from time-zone to time-zone around the world Saturday, even a few pages on the Internet turned black. Google's homepage reads, "We've turned the lights out, now it's your turn."
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Earlier report:
Bangkok prepared to turn out the lights for an hour on Saturday night in a rolling worldwide campaign called Earth Hour.
Sydney will be the first major metropolis to endure the self-imposed 60-minute blackout, turning out the lights on landmark buildings and corporate skyscrapers from 8pm (4pm Thailand time), with homes and businesses also encouraged to take part.
From there the initiative, which aims to engage the community in combatting global warming, will see lights dimmed or turned off at 8pm local time in Bangkok
In Bangkok, the lights will be turned off on some of the capital's best-known landmarks: Wat Arun, the riverside Temple of the Dawn, as well as the Rama 8 Cable Bridge across the Chao Phraya. Lights are to go out for an hour on Silom Road, the main street in the city centre.
Thai TV and music stars will also join events organised by the city to raise awareness of global warming, as street lamps are turned off on eight main thoroughfares and business are urged to dim their lights.
After that it will be Manila, before spreading further to Europe and the Americas.
Earth Hour encourages governments, companies and homeowners to voluntarily switch off power to non-essential appliances for one hour to illustrate how, by working together, people can make a difference by using less energy, thereby producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
About 2.2 million people are estimated to have participated in the 2007 Sydney event which left the city's iconic harbourside Opera House and nearby Harbour Bridge bathed in moonlight as restaurant diners ate by candlelight and company logos on office buildings were dimmed. (BangkokPost.com, Agencies)
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Many tall buildings were dark for the hour, along with six main roads - Silom, Yaowarat, Khao Sarn, Sukhumvit, Phetchaburi and Ratchadaphisek. Three major landmarks went dark: Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn), Rama VIII Cable Bridge, and Ratchadamnoen Avenue.
Overall, results were both unimpressive and disappointing.
The city estimated it manged to cut electricity consumption by 165 megawattrs, and slashed emissions of carbon dioxide by 102 tonnes.
But this was far below a mere 15-minute lights-out campaign sponsored by the Bangkok administration last May, which saved 530Mw of power and cut CO2 emissions by 143 tonnes.
Life continued fairly normally during the blackout. Most indoor lights remained on - many of them subdued.
The BTS and subway trains continued as normal, and traffic lights continued to operate.
Before the blackout, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority estimated it would save 500,000 baht worth of power, equal to approximately one hour's power generation by the Pak Moon dam.
But Banpot Sangkeo, assistant governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) said public participation in Earth Hour dropped from last year.
"However, the Earth Hour campaign is a wake-up call for Bangkok residents that we must do something to save energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
The Bangkok blackout followed similar environmental awareness programmes in Sydney and Manila.
As intentional darkness jumped from time-zone to time-zone around the world Saturday, even a few pages on the Internet turned black. Google's homepage reads, "We've turned the lights out, now it's your turn."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Earlier report:
Bangkok prepared to turn out the lights for an hour on Saturday night in a rolling worldwide campaign called Earth Hour.
Sydney will be the first major metropolis to endure the self-imposed 60-minute blackout, turning out the lights on landmark buildings and corporate skyscrapers from 8pm (4pm Thailand time), with homes and businesses also encouraged to take part.
From there the initiative, which aims to engage the community in combatting global warming, will see lights dimmed or turned off at 8pm local time in Bangkok
In Bangkok, the lights will be turned off on some of the capital's best-known landmarks: Wat Arun, the riverside Temple of the Dawn, as well as the Rama 8 Cable Bridge across the Chao Phraya. Lights are to go out for an hour on Silom Road, the main street in the city centre.
Thai TV and music stars will also join events organised by the city to raise awareness of global warming, as street lamps are turned off on eight main thoroughfares and business are urged to dim their lights.
After that it will be Manila, before spreading further to Europe and the Americas.
Earth Hour encourages governments, companies and homeowners to voluntarily switch off power to non-essential appliances for one hour to illustrate how, by working together, people can make a difference by using less energy, thereby producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
About 2.2 million people are estimated to have participated in the 2007 Sydney event which left the city's iconic harbourside Opera House and nearby Harbour Bridge bathed in moonlight as restaurant diners ate by candlelight and company logos on office buildings were dimmed. (BangkokPost.com, Agencies)
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