Earth Hour in Moscow saves 2,400 kWh

Moscow, April 1 (IANS/RIA Novosti) About 2,400 kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy were saved as 65 buildings in Moscow went dark during the global Earth Hour Saturday evening, according to estimates by the Russian capital's electricity utility MosSvet.

One kilowatt hour (kwh) is equal to 1,000 watt hours.

This year the event began in Moscow at 8.30 p.m. local time and was organised for the fourth time in Russia.

Earth Hour is organised annually on the last Saturday of March by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The initiative traces its origin to Australia in 2007 when businesses and residents in Sydney turned off their lights for one hour to make a statement about energy use and global warming. A few years later, it became the largest voluntary event in history.

The head of Moscow government's department of natural resources and environmental protection, Anton Kulbachevsky, said the aim of the campaign was to promote a more environmentally friendly way of life among the Muscovites, not just to save electricity.

Over 4,000 cities from 131 countries and about 750 major landmarks had turned off their lights during the global Earth Hour event March 26, 2011.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

sd