Could the abolition of daylight saving time affect the energy sector? Experts explained whether this is true

Daylight saving time does not affect energy savings, but it does have a negative impact on public health. Accordingly, the abolition of daylight saving time will not lead to changes in Ukraine's energy system.

Volodymyr Omelchenko, director of energy programs at the Razumkov Center, told OBOZ.UA. According to him, the idea of daylight saving time arose back in the days of the founder of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, to save electricity.

Initially, this concept spread to many countries, but now most countries have abandoned the seasonal change to summer and winter time. "In my opinion, I don't see any serious impact on the energy sector and resource consumption, and I think that there are no big savings from switching the clocks and there won't be any," Omelchenko said.

He also emphasized that switching the clocks negatively affects people's health by disrupting their biological rhythms. "Medical institutes once conducted research on this topic, and it was proven that it has a negative impact on health," he added.

Omelchenko's opinion is also supported by Serhiy Fursa, an investment banker. In his opinion, this transition has long been an atavism that has no economic justification in the modern world.

"It was invented 100 years ago, motivated by the fact that it could help save electricity. But this happened in a completely different world, the industrial world. In today's world of information technology, in today's post-industrial society, there are no studies that would indicate that it helps to save anything. There just isn't," Fursa said.

He added that the economy has nothing to lose from the abolition of daylight saving time, and on the contrary, it can gain. "A blow to the nation's health is always a blow to the economy. The tie-in to blackouts would be appropriate if studies were confirming that in the modern world, daylight saving time allows you to save money. But there are none. Therefore, leaving the same time for the whole year is quite logical," Fursa summarized.

A new bill to abolish daylight saving time has been passed

According to the new law, Ukraine will abolish daylight saving time in the fall of 2024. According to the bill, in the fall of 2024, clocks will be set back one hour for the last time. After that, clocks in Ukraine will no longer have to be reset.

MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak wrote on his Telegram that the parliament had passed a bill to cancel the change of clocks in Ukraine from winter to summer. The document was voted for by 261 MPs.

The explanatory note to the bill states that it is aimed at protecting public health. Most scientists and doctors believe that the annual switching of clocks forward and backward by one hour has some negative consequences, causing a significant deterioration in the health of citizens during the period of adaptation to "summer" and "winter" time.

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