alt.energy.renewable

"GeekBoy" wrote in message
news:47dacaa5$0$6142$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Abstract
>
> The history of Daylight Saving Time (DST) has been long and controversial.
> Throughout its
> implementation during World Wars I and II, the oil embargo of the 1970s,
and
> more regular
> practice today, the primary rationale for DST has always been to promote
> energy conservation.
> Nevertheless, there is surprisingly little evidence that DST actually
saves
> energy. This paper
> takes advantage of a natural experiment in the state of Indiana to provide
> the first empirical
> estimates of DST effects on electricity consumption in the United States
> since the mid-1970s.
> Focusing on residential electricity demand, we conduct the first-ever
study
> that uses micro-data
> on households. The dataset consists of more than 7 million observations on
> monthly billing data
> for nearly all households in southern Indiana for three years. Our main
> finding is that-contrary
> to the policy's intent-DST increases residential electricity demand.
> Estimates of the overall
> increase range from 1 to 4 percent, but we find that the effect is not
> constant throughout the DST
> period. There is some evidence of electricity savings during the spring,
but
> the effect lessens,
> changes sign, and appears to cause the greatest increase in consumption
near
> the end of the DST
> period in the fall. These findings are consistent with simulation results
> that point to a tradeoff
> between reducing demand for lighting and increasing demand for heating and
> cooling. Based on
> the dates of DST practice before the 2007 extensions, we estimate a cost
of
> increased electricity
> bills to Indiana households of $8.6 million per year. We also estimate
> social costs of increased
> pollution emissions that range from $1.6 to $5.3 million per year.
> *
>
>
> See whole paper at:
http://www2.bren.ucsb.edu/%7Ekotchen/links/DSTpaper.pdf
>

Daylight Savings Time Sucks. It's just to mess with our minds by screwing
up our schedules. My personal, off-grid experience is that my family uses
more electricity at least at the beginning of DST mainly due to the use of
more lights etc. in the morning.

Personally I think they have it all back-asswards: they should make the
short days longer instead of making the long days longer. That is, if they
MUST mess with the clocks.