Oman's grand plan for massive power savings

The Environment Society of Oman (ESO) is aiming to save 50,000KW of power by "switching off" during the global Earth Hour from 8:30pm to 9:30pm on March 31. "During Earth Hour, we encourage individuals, families, businesses and the government to switch off what they can for an hour to save electricity," said ESO executive director Lamees Daar in a press release on Saturday. The annual event aims to create awareness about global warming and smarter electricity and water conservation. Oman is participating in the event for the second time, after ESO led the campaign in 2011, which saved an estimated 20,000KW of electricity. "That was enough to supply 250 houses for a whole day or the whole district of Al Khuwair in Muscat for an hour," Daar said. "We have set the country the challenge of saving over 50,000KW of power and educate people about ways to save electricity and water every day through simple techniques," she added. The campaign, sponsored by Sohar Aluminium, Towell Engineering, NBO, PDO, Muscat Pharmacy and Omran, will include art and energy saving contests in schools. Companies and institutions will switch off non-essential lighting. "Corporate organisations have pledged their commitment to the cause and we have managed to secure sponsors to help promote the campaign," Dar said. "We want people across the country to see how they can make simple changes to their everyday conduct to save power and electricity." Earth Hour was first launched in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million residents turned off non-essential lights and is driven by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. "Every little step helps. Simply turning the lights off in rooms when you are not in, keeping your air conditioning thermostat at 23, switching off electrical appliances at the wall when not in use for example can make a huge difference," said ESO General Manager Bassma Rasasi.