On the early morning of Sunday, October 31, the summer time established in all member countries of the European Union ends, so clocks must be set back one hour (at 03:00 it will be 02:00 hours), in compliance with the Community Directive that governs the so-called "Time Change".
The "Time Change" began to become widespread, although unevenly, from 1974, when the first oil crisis occurred and some countries decided to advance their clocks to better take advantage of sunlight and thus consume less electricity in lighting. It has been applied as a directive since 1981 and has been renewed successively every four years.
Since the approval of the Ninth Directive, by the European Parliament and the Council of the Union, in January 2001, this change has been applied indefinitely. This Directive is incorporated into the Spanish legal system by Royal Decree 236/2002, of March 1.
The indefinite nature of the application of the time change has been adopted on the understanding that "the proper functioning of some sectors, not only transport and communications, but also other branches of industry, requires stable long-term programming".
The Ninth Directive - mandatory for all countries of the European Union - permanently establishes the start dates of the "Summer Time" period (in which we advance the clock one hour) and its end (when, as now, we set the clock back one hour), occurring on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October, respectively.
In other words, the Ninth Directive has been issued with the intention of permanence, so that all citizens and institutions, public and private of the Union, know in advance the dates of the annual time change and plan their activity without waiting for any future rule.
The approval of the Ninth Directive, which enshrines the change measure, is supported by the conclusions of a study on its scope and effects carried out by order of the European Commission and presented to Parliament in 1999.
After exhaustively analyzing the repercussions of the measure, the study concludes that it has positive impacts not only on savings but also on other sectors such as transport, communications, road safety, working conditions and lifestyles, health, tourism or leisure.
SAVINGS
According to estimates by the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE), a Public Business Entity of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, the potential for savings in lighting in our country, due to the time change, during the months in which it has had effect, can represent up to five percent of electricity consumption in lighting, equivalent to about 300 million euros.
Of that amount, 90 million would correspond to the potential of Spanish households, which represents a saving of 6 euros per household; while the other 210 million euros would be saved in buildings in the tertiary sector and in industry.
The above figures are potential, that is, to achieve them it is necessary to carry out a rational behavior at home when dispensing with artificial lighting when it is not necessary, as well as the use of saving technologies in lighting by taking advantage of natural light, in buildings in the tertiary sector and in industries.
These widely experienced technologies consist of the installation of photocells or light sensors that turn off or regulate artificial lighting depending on the natural light provided to the area, through windows or skylights.
It should be noted, in this sense, that the Technical Building Code makes the installation of these systems mandatory in newly constructed buildings and that the Action Plan of the Energy Saving and Efficiency Strategy, approved by the Government, enables aid to reform lighting in buildings in the tertiary sector.
But, in addition, regardless of the time change, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce and the IDAE recommend that citizens contribute to energy saving throughout the year by making intelligent use of energy in the home, in terms of both lighting and air conditioning, heating, the purchase of efficient appliances, the use of the car, etc.
ACN