Lights Draining the Green out of the Olympics?

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The City of Vancouver has announced a plan to light up English Bay with 20 robotic searchlights as part of the Cultural Olympiad.

If the 10,000 W lights are left on for 15 hours a day this will consume over 3,000 kWh of electricity per day.  That is enough to power 10 average homes (50 energy efficient ones). Over the course the 24 days that the lights will be used they will consume 72,000 kWh of electiricy and generate 9,000 kg of CO2 equivelent greenhouse gas emissions.

And one top of that there is the issue of light pollution.

Note: ghg emissions include imported power assuming a 10% coal, 5% natural gas and 85% hydro mix.

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