This really is nothing beyond a symbolic way of saying that France intends to go green and that the French government is ready to embrace eco-friendly technology. But the good thing about cutting the sizzle off of the Eiffel Tower is that it is actually being acknowledged as just a ‘symbolic gesture’ and no one is trying to make a big deal out of it in terms of energy saving. While many might welcome the move, one could surely save plenty of power somewhere else rather than dim the lights on Paris’ most striking monuments.

Since January 1, 2000, every hour after dusk, the 20,000 bulbs twinkle brilliantly for ten minutes in what has become a tourist hit. But starting next month, Sete, the company subcontracted by Paris to run the tower, has decided to half the time the bulbs are on, cutting illumination from 400 to 200 hours per year. The decision is part of a plan to make the Eiffel tower and other monuments more environmentally friendly.

Tickets and documents in the tower are made of recycled paper, and management claims that all the electricity used comes from renewable sources. It is currently studying a plan to put solar panels on the roof of its restaurants. This latest green initiative comes just after the “city of light” completed a massive five-year energy saving plan to replace the standard incandescent light bulbs with metal iodide light bulbs on 125 of its monuments.

Now you could still use solar power of even tiny windmills to power the lights on the Eiffel rather than cut the time in half. The tourists are surely not going to take to it all too well and while it is for a wonderful green cause, there are surely other ways of awareness than taking the sheen of France’s eternal symbol of lights and love.

Via Telegraph