In the first floor of the building that I work, in the University of Tsukuba, there is a TV screen that shows the current energy usage, comparing it with the average from the previous year.

So far, the energy usage has always been around 80% to 90% from the previous year — but since my return to morocco, it has jumped to over 160%. At first I thought it was some sort of weird experiment going on, but as this repeated day after day, I realized something else was up.

Then I got it — they compare it with LAST YEAR’S averages, and after the 3.11 earthquake, Tsukuba (and in fact most of japan) were under a serious blackout, brownout and energy conservation regimen. I guess we will keep going over the previous year’s average for a few more months.