Although there are serious doubts about its value, every year at this time we are required to set the clock back one hour, following the tradition that was introduced to increase productive time during the Second World War.

Discussions within it EUROPE. to cancel the time change were put on hold, as in the meantime, much more serious problems arose, such as coronavirus, Brexit, war in Ukraine and energy crisis.

But now, in addition to falling productivity, rising heart attacks, motorists and even crime that seem to be linked to the change in time, another reason may be pushing Europe to abandon an outdated habit: with soaring energy prices, politicians and citizens in several countries are discovering that changing times can further increase the demand for electricity.

For example, the Italian Society for Environmental Medicine concluded that suspending the clock for a month could save 70 million euros on the country’s electricity bills. In Ireland, a senator called for the measure to be repealed after the presentation of the results of the study by Aoife Foley, a professor of energy systems at Queen’s University Belfast. The study estimates that removing the measure could save between £1.2bn and £2.3bn a year in England, Scotland and Wales. In addition, according to the study, Ireland can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.48% only through a corresponding reduction in household electricity demand.

Cause

The benefits of reversing this measure are due to a very simple reason: as Foley told Bloomberg, when it gets darker during the day, people turn on the lights later. For example, in the UK and Ireland, demand peaks at 17:00. and 19:00, while in the winter months demand starts to increase shortly before 16:00. If not for the change in time, the lights would start to dim at 5, which would also delay the increase in demand.

Of course, the counterargument is very simple: the demand can be postponed until the morning. But that’s not going to happen, Foley said, because households, especially in Britain and Ireland, tend to turn on the lights in one way or another in the morning. In addition, during these hours, employees are usually in the office.

One measure for different conditions

The time change continues to take place even though it puts pressure on the energy market, Foley told Bloomberg because it was a solution to early 20th-century conditions. “When it was introduced in the last century, people got up early in the morning because they needed light to work. It was because they didn’t have the power grid or the lighting capability in the houses that we have. They also had to go to work on clearer mornings because they didn’t have street lighting like they do now. Now the conditions on the roads and cars are better and safer for pedestrians as well,” she stressed.

Answer E.E.

In 2019, an agreement was reached to end the time change, which has yet to be implemented, partly due to gray areas in the EU electricity grid, but mainly because Member States have had bigger problems in recent years. Against this background, the measure has clearly fallen out of the priority list. Of course, indications about the limitations of the measure are growing, and the conclusions about the encumbrance of the energy market may become the basis for changes.