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Earth Hour saved 100,000kWh of power in Dubai

DUBAI — The city's residents and businesses saved the equivalent of 60,000kg of carbon dioxide emission when non-essential lighting was turned off for Earth Hour from 8pm to 9pm on Saturday.

However, the 100,000kWh (kilowatts per hour) of electricity saved only represents a 2.4 per cent reduction in electricity use during the previous hour.

The event organisers had hoped for 20 per cent energy savings.

"Although this is the first time Dubai has taken part in this initiative, the savings in power which were achieved indicate we can do without some of the energy we use. We hope to achieve higher savings next year, with larger participation," said Saeed M. Al Tayer, CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA).

Earth Hour was launched in Dubai when the exterior lights of the Burj Al Arab and its neighbouring hotels — Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Madinat Jumeirah and Al Qasr — were switched off. The power down also signalled the start of a lantern parade involving up to 5,000 people along a section of the Jumeirah Beach road.

"We are really happy with the result, but Earth Hour wasn't ever going to be about the (electricity) results," said Kamal Dimachkie from the Dubai office of Leo Burnett, the creative agency behind the initial Earth Hour in Sydney.

"It's about getting people committed to be more energy efficient all year round."

The initiative was led by Dubai Holding and Dubai Municipality and garnered the support of many businesses and even malls.

Majid Al Futtaim Group Shopping Malls, including Mall of the Emirates, also participated by turning off exterior lights.

Dubai was the first Arab city to declare support for Earth Hour. It joined more than 380 towns and cities and 3,500 businesses in 35 countries that had signed up for the campaign that is in its second year after it began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia's largest city.

Up to 30 million people across the globe were expected to have turned off their lights for 60 minutes by the time the climate change initiative — which started in Suva in Fiji and Christchurch in New Zealand on Saturday — completed its cycle westward.