BANGKOK, April 1 – Thailand’s capital city, joining the worldwide Earth Hour campaign helped cut power use by 1,528 megawatt and reduced CO2 emission by over 800 tonnes.
Bangkok deputy governor Wallop Suwandee presided over the ‘60+ Earth Hour 2012’ campaign’s worldwide switch-off-the-lights activities at CentralWorld, Thailand’s largest shopping complex on Saturday to raise awareness on global warming.
This year is the fifth consecutive year that the City of Bangkok joined 5,251 cities in 135 countries worldwide in the campaign to turn off their lights from 8:30-9:30 pm yesterday.
The event was broadcast live as Bangkok’s five main roads and the city’s landmarks went dark. The Grand Palace, the Temple of Dawn, the Rama VIII Bridge and the Giant Swing fell into darkness after the power cut.
After the one-hour campaign, the statistics showed a reduction of electricity use by 1,528 megawatt, accounting for 4.37 million baht, less than the 2,346 megawatt savings recorded last year.
Saving power during the 60-minute campaign cut CO2 emission by 817 tonnes, less than the 1,255-tonne reduction last year.
However, the figure of reduced CO2 emission this year is still higher than the average CO2 discharge reduction of 1,475 tonnes in the Bangkok campaign over preceding years.
