UK’s Energy Saving Day Makes No Impact

The UK’s Energy Saving Day, known as E-Day to many, did not live up to expectations. E-Day is a 24 hour period when consumers were asked to turn off electricity-guzzling equipment while not in use. Energy consumption was monitored by the National Grid. To the disappointment of many, energy usage was on par with what’s typical during a regular 24-hour period. No real impact was made. In fact, usage was actually 0.1p higher than projected for a typical time period.

Some believe this was due to colder-than-expected cold weather increasing heating usage. Others feel that lack of publicity was to blame for low levels of participation. In other words, the public was simply not made aware of the event and participation suffered.

The project was backed by several organizations such as Greenpeace and Christian Aid. It was also supported by major energy suppliers who are obligated to promote energy-saving initiatives to their consumers.

Experts were hoping that E-Day would have made a measurable impact on energy usage, ideally in the range of two to three p. It was hoped that consumers could see for themselves what can be achieved by small energy-saving efforts on a large scale. For the event to be successful in the future, concerted effort will have to be made to inform consumers about the benefits of participating in the event. An accurate weather forecast would also be helpful in choosing a date for the event.

The effects of global warming are already being noticed in the Ganges delta region. Impacts on sea levels and climate range have been recorded.

e-day.org.uk