Governor Fauzi Bowo said Jakarta had saved a significant amount of energy by taking part in the global Earth Hour campaign that lasted from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night.

Fauzi said Jakarta had saved 170 megawatts (MW) of energy during the one-hour period, up from last year’s 80 MW. “This is a remarkable achievement because a significant amount of energy has been conserved,” he said.

This is the third year in a row Jakarta has joined the global Earth Hour initiative.

Jakarta has become a major target of the initiative to reduce green house gas emissions, because it accounts for 23 percent of the country’s total electricity consumption, or around 29,605 gigawatts.

If 10 percent of Jakartans switched off two light bulbs during Earth Hour, 300 megawatts of energy would be saved — a sufficient amount to power 900 villages and save 267.3 tons of CO2 emissions.

During Earth Hour, the city administration switched off lights illuminating some of Jakarta’s landmarks, including the National Monument, Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, the Arjuna Wiwaha fountain and City Hall.

Fauzi had urged all municipality, sub-district and village offices to switch off their lights for Earth Hour.

To celebrate the occasion, the city administration staged a concert featuring a number of guest star performances, including female performer Oppie Andaresta and Jamaican Café, who were accompanied by a minimalist set of of musical instruments.

The majority of the concert was performed acoustically and off-air, but one segment was broadcast by local television stations.

Its sponsors defended the concert as an energy-efficient affair.

“We are using a small amount energy to support the instruments and the concert’s basic needs,” World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia corporate partnership manager Rina Aryati said.

Rina said the off-air concert had consumed 5,000 watts pf energy, whereas an on-air segment would have normally consumed 20 megawatts. A regular off-air concert consumes at least 10 megawatts,
she added.

Some establishments chose not to observe Earth Hour, saying it would disrupt their operations.

The manager of Carrefour supermarket in Bintaro, South Jakarta, said it would not switch off its lights between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Saturday, because it had not received the order from management to do so.

“We won’t turn off the lights because our head office made no such order,” customer service manager of the Carrefour outlet Muchamad Ramdan told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Other business establishments went to great lengths to observe the movement.

A café in South Jakarta said it would turn off its electricity supply during the designated hour but had readied a diesel generator to keep crucial systems running.

“Otherwise all of the food in the fridge will perish. All of our pastry stocks have to be stored in a freezer below 0.5 degrees Centigrade,” Oh La La Café manager Iye told the Post.

The flagship store of American burger chain McDonald’s at Sarinah Department Store said it would partly comply with the Earth Hour initiative.

During the hour, McDonald’s switched off 50 percent of its lighting on its first and second floors of the newly reopened burger joint, complying with an order from its central management.

Although its giant golden arches remained illuminated — the lights running down the column supporting its famous logo were turned off for the hour. (fem)

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