Earth Hour savings top last year”s

Bangkok people saved 24.65 megawatts of electricity during this year’s Earth Hour plan, which saw thousands of homes switch off their lamps for an afternoon in the name of raising environmental awareness on Saturday, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration official Aekvarunyoo Amrapala.

Bangkokians joined residents of 7, 000 another urban areas across 190 countries across the globe in the energy saving initiative, which saw no- necessary electric lights at households and significant landmarks switched off for an hour as part of a campaign to stop global warming.

Lights were turned off at Wat Phra Kaew, the Grand Palace, Wat Arun, the Giant Swing, Wat Sa Ket or the Golden Mount, and Rama VIII bridge, Mr Aekvarunyoo said.

Citing figures released by the Metropolitan Electricity Authority ( MEA ), the spokesman said overall power consumption on Saturday dropped by at least 24.65 megawatts compared to the same period on March 16.

The campaign also reduced the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by at least 11 tonnes, an improvement last year’s reported savings of 5.2 tonnes. &nbsp,

Bangkok has participated in the campaign since 2008, which has helped it reduce electricity consumption by 22, 512 megawatts and bring down carbon dioxide emissions by 12, 260 tonnes,

This is equal to 81 million baht in electricity bills, said Mr Aekvarunyoo.