Friday, February 02, 2007

5 minutes of blackout for the planet


Last evening, between 7:55 and 8 pm, all French people were invited by several environmental protection associations to turn off their lights for 5 minutes. The idea was to attract the attention of politicians, media and citizens on the need for more energy savings. Even public monuments like the Eiffel tower turned into the dark age at the same moment... And it worked! The French Electricity company reported tonight that the equivalent of 1% of the national consumption has been "saved" thanks to this "eco demonstration".
PS: I'm off to Romans for the festival tomorrow morning at 6 am(!). Will keep you posted on the results. Cross your fingers for me! And Merci encore for your support!

47 comments:

  1. Fingers and toes crossed for you dear Eric!

    This is a really great idea. I wonder if people would do it in the UK. Probably not on the grounds of health & safety. Risk that someone might trip in the dark probably.
    Adore this photo too. Who was it who wasn't participating then here, or was this health & safety too, perhaps the stairway?

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  2. Bon chance for the competition, monsieur,
    Paris is still romantic with the lights off.

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  3. Bon Chance Eric...The photo is beautiful...and the 1% saved is very interesting! Shall we say a prayer to Sainte Genevieve this weekend for you and PDP?? ;-)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevieve

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  4. Good luck and have fun! The "City of Lights" in the dark?! Hmmm... I don't know about that... ;)

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  5. Even spanish goverment supports that... but I was in the street at this moment and didn't notice any change...

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  6. Fantastic that Paris napped for five mninutes. Don't when was the last time it did this.

    Good luck in the Festival de Romans I am sure that you will come out winner one way or the other. I know, I know I am qualifying my statement. Somehow you should'nt be disappointed whatever the outcome.

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  7. Bonjour Eric Ca-va?

    We joined in we sat and chatted by candlelight i think it should be done regularly lol i think it was the longest conversation i held with my parents bro and fiance at the same time

    Bon Voyage!

    Han

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  8. Eric, Bon Chance and/or Bon Courage. I don't know the difference but I have been taught that they both mean Good Luck! Love the photo...has a lovely tranquility. On Paris Marais, I saw a great photo of the ice skaters in front of the Hotel de Ville. In two weeks from today, I will get to see them for myself. Oh La La...

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  9. 1%? Awesome! I doubt the people around here would ever participate in something like that. i don't think most people care.

    Good luck Eric. I'm sending positive energy your way!

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  10. my goodness, after yesterday's overwhelming response over dog poop, i dooo see that i might be out of my league here. (still hoping today's post get's equal attention)

    jeff: thanks for being the one who 'gets it'..i marvel your ability to navigate so deftly amongst groupthink, you give me hope. enjoy your trip.

    soosha: you've got guts woman, thanks. you taught me something.

    eric: thanks for your graciousness and artistry. bonne chance.

    lynn: you're a talented lady. i hope you find a more meaningful way to fill all of your time, in the very near future.

    gg & tomate farcie: thanks for a shot of that french style and spirit.

    pdpers: you can now breathe a collective sigh (aaaahhh) of relief. dorothy and the wizard have banished the wicked-scary-witch from your kingdom. you can now return to your peaceful slumbers in Ozzzzzzzzz.

    but please remember: i only came to tell you one thing....there's no place like Home.....there's no place like Home... therzz noopxvqczzznlak HOME....

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  11. *AWAKENING IS ALWAYS AN OPTION*

    ciao ;x

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  12. Good Luck Eric. Even Oscar my dog is crossing his back paws for you - especially after Feb 1 photo!!

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  13. 5 minutes of darkness for a good cause. not that bad compared to the 3 days darkness...

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  14. I have to say that this wasn't very well advertised, but if they saved that much in energy, imagine what would be the result if it had been! Amazing.

    Just finished Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth. Except for the personal distractions in the film, the facts and figures make for an appealing call for change.

    Will anyone take notice?

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  15. If you make it 10 or 15 minutes, people will notice and the politicians too..



    _______

    http://www.profilepitstop.com

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  16. To give you an idea of what this 1% represents :
    This is approx. 800 MW, and is equivalent of the consumption of one big city like Marseilles (2nd city in France after Paris).

    Or another view : this means that approx. 3 millions French people have switched off all their lights and electricals during these 5 minutes...

    Well, 3 millions are only 5% of the French population....

    Let's have a dream : what about 5% of the World population....

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  17. et bien méme a Bastia on l'a fait...
    aller curagiu pour le festival tu vas gagner de toute façon...
    amicizia...

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  18. according to my calculations I was in the metro when this went down... I'm really glad they didn't shut off the electricity down there!

    nice shot though.

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  19. > Barbara : I do not understand. Is it a farewell you gave us ?

    > Eric : je fais une petite prière à Sainte Rita pour toi !

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  20. Here in Spain we followed the French idea and the results were of about a 2.5% reduction in power demand. That's 1040 MW, quite a lot of bulbs...

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  21. more meaningful than what Barbara? Curious...! You know how i fill all of my time? How (i'm looking around my office for cameras..)?

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  22. I don't understand either gg. I mean, thanks, but.. are you going, Barbara?

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  23. If you want to check out more photos about this event in Madrid and main cities, take a look at this photo gallery

    Greetings from Madrid :)

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  24. I reckon the birth rate in the most romantic city in the world will reveal the results in 9 months time.
    QUAD ERAT DEMONSTRANDUM

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  25. within 9 months there will be a baby boom in France ! I'm sure !

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  26. Paris we have a lot to thank for in the past few days. No smoking event, lights out for the planet and today hosting the climate warming conclusion conference. What else? Eric winning the Festival? Let's hope so.

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  27. I think it was an amazing idea, turning off electricity for 5 minutes. There´s so much we could do if we´d only organize ourselves.

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  28. watched the news on tv last night.
    :))
    i really think its a good idea to let people and governors to realize how important to protect our planet.

    nice theme photo.

    jing

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  29. lynn, I'm a bit confused too. It sounds like a farewell, that's not what I'm confused about. since when did I have guts?!? Now all the stuff about lynn and the rest is definately true, though. We do have an awesome bunch of people here.

    Michael, I certainly hope people Gore's movie makes more people take notice. Haven't seen it yet myself, but it's definately on my queue, and from what I've heard about it it should perk up plenty of ears. especially if it's Oscar nominated. I'm looking forward to seeing it when it comes probably next week. Then I'll probably let my mother-in-law borrow it. She's pretty much an environmental activist.

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  30. Or, as my very conservative family would call her, a tree-hugging hippie. Can't help but wonder how I came out of that family with such different political views!!!

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  31. thats a great idea. i think we should do something like that over here in america but i don't know what the reaction would be to such an event. some people might go through withdrawl haha

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  32. Maybe those comments were meant to do just what they did. Be mysterious and weird and get everyone talking about them! You're wonderful Soosh but don't know why she said about guts either. I'd say you're intelligent, fun, witty, worldly, enthused, bookish, well lots of things really but love to know about the guts. ? Strange. Well done Barbara, you got us questionning.

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  33. I more often than not, over dinner or just relaxing in the sitting room, just have candles as lighting. It's romantic and makes the room look lovely into the bargain but i'm wondering, if we all did that as a matter of course, we'd surely save quite a lot?

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  34. Than...I think it's a great idea for you to start over there! Why not start it in your community then make some press out of it. You never know!

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  35. Michael, I saw the Gore film a few months ago. I found it fascinating. Gore is brilliant. Quel Dommage that we didn't manage to get him elected. We wouldn't be in the mess we are today......beat the bush, not beating around the bush. I wonder how much more damage he bush) will commit before his eight years are up!

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  36. I wonder how many people stepped in poop during the 5 minutes of darkness (hee, hee) (Sorry, still a bit traumatized from yesterday's post.) Yes, Paris was very progressive yesterday with the blackout and the no smoking thing.
    Bon Chance, Eric! Can't wait to hear the scoop from the Festival.
    Happy Vendredi Everyone!

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  37. Eric, what a great idea and what a great post.

    More importantly, however, I just looked at your competitors for the festival Romans and you are a sure winner. If not, the judges will have been blind (sorry judges if you're reading this...but PDP IS the best).

    Good luck and take photos for us!

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  38. BTW - where IS Romans? Sounds like it should be Italy somewhere!

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  39. Michael,
    I just read that Al Gore has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2007 for his efforts in making folks aware of Global Warming, etc.

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  40. Johnny...that is so strange! I dreamt that last night! Was wondering what he would do with the money.... How bizarre that it really happened. Thanks for the update.

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  41. I think that's a great "demonstration" and I am amazed to hear that 5 minutes was so impactful! Hope the festival goes well!

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  42. Metaphysicalmama said, "BTW - where IS Romans? Sounds like it should be Italy somewhere!

    Very funny mama! I looked on the site because I didn't know either and here's a link to a map they have posted. Not quite Italy, but towards the south of France.

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  43. I am so obtuse sometimes, well, most of the time. I thought Romans was referring to novels in French. Dah!!

    Michael....even your dreams are great. Whatever could your secret be? Love potion number nine? LOL

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  44. I just saw the map you found for us, Michael. That town is real close to where we will be staying this May-June in Grenoble...a little town called Le Mure. Life is so full of little coincidences, C'est Vrai?

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  45. I had seen this on the news. Amazing how just 5 minutes could be so significant. Bravo for Paris!

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  46. Wow, cool post and news from Paris. What we could do with a little team effort, eh?

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