freediver
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http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/More-daylight-saving-uses-more-energy/2007/03/15/1173722635826.html
Extending daylight saving increases rather than decreases energy consumption, according to a US study of Australia which has implications for both countries.
Prolonged daylight saving succeeded in cutting electricity use in the evenings, but this was more than offset by increased usage in the mornings, according to the study by California's Berkeley University.
The outcome weakens the argument of those proposing extended daylight saving months to curb Australia's high greenhouse gas emissions.
It also calls into question an imminent US experiment aimed at reducing energy consumption by one per cent during extended daylight saving periods.
"While the DST extension does reduce the evening peak load in Victoria in 2000, it creates a new, sharp peak in the morning.
"This 2000 morning peak is even higher than the evening peak in 2001."
NSW, Vic, ACT to extend daylight saving
http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking-news/nsw-vic-act-to-extend-daylight-saving/2007/04/13/1175971311629.html
Two Australian states and a territory have agreed to Tasmania's proposal to join its longer daylight saving period.
The move will bring NSW, Victoria, the ACT into the same daylight saving period as Tasmania - from the first Sunday in October until the first Sunday in April.
Tasmania previously has been one hour out of step with the other states for three weeks each spring because it starts its daylight saving earlier.
Daylight savings split opposed: Poll
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Daylight-savings-split-opposed-Poll/2007/07/01/1183228945485.html
Queenslanders are strongly opposed to a plan to split the state into two time zones, according to a poll published on Sunday.
The poll, by The Sunday Mail newspaper, found only 27 per cent of respondents supported a proposal to deliver daylight saving to the state's south-east corner while the rest of the state remained on Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).
Of the 509 people who took part in the statewide survey, 64 per cent were opposed to the move while nine per cent were undecided.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie described the results as a "severe blow" to the daylight savings compromise which he believed may have been the only solution to the ongoing debate.
However, the premier told the newspaper he would wait for the results of government sponsored research into the issue before deciding whether or not to press ahead with a referendum next year.
Qld considers daylight saving
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Qld-considers-daylight-saving/2007/09/17/1189881415066.html
A decision on whether Queensland should adopt daylight saving is to be made within weeks.
Premier Anna Bligh said the government was still waiting for the results of ACNielsen research, which examined Queenslanders' attitudes to daylight saving.
She said the government would be "very, very cautious" when considering the state's time zone.
"Queensland is a different geographic shape than other states in Australia," Ms Bligh told reporters in Brisbane.
"If I lived in Victoria, daylight saving would be a very, very straight-forward proposition. But there are more people living in parts of Queensland to the west than people generally understand."
In the last daylight saving referendum, held in 1992, daylight saving was defeated 54.6 per cent to 45.4 per cent.
Ms Bligh said if the research showed clear opposition, it wouldn't be put to another vote.
She promised to make the research - including questions and answers - publicly available.
Extended Daylight Saving Time Not an Energy Saver?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080307-daylight-saving.html?source=cmailer
On Sunday people in the United States will roll their clocks forward an hour at 2 a.m. and begin the country's second consecutive year of extended daylight saving time.
The change, adopted into law last year, was touted as a way to save energy. But some studies suggest the move actually has consumers using more power—and paying bigger energy bills.
Hendrik Wolff, an environmental economist at the University of Washington in Seattle, is skeptical of the purported savings.
Wolff and colleague Ryan Kellogg studied Australian power-use data surrounding the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when parts of the country extended daylight saving time to accommodate the games.
The pair compared energy use in the state of Victoria, which adopted daylight saving time earlier than normal, to South Australia, which did not.
"Basically if people wake up early in the morning and go to bed earlier, they do save artificial illumination at night and reduce electricity consumption in the evening," Wolff said.
"Our study confirmed that effect. But we also found that more electricity is consumed in the morning. In the end, these two effects wash each other out."
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