US Energy Sec. recommends painting roads to white fights global warming
07-13-09, 03:09 PM
#1
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US Energy Sec. recommends painting roads to white fights global warming
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- America should attack global warming by ... painting rooftops and road surfaces white.
Seriously. No kidding.
Among those promoting the idea is Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a big-thinking physicist who has a bully pulpit and influence over billions in research and stimulus funds.
Chu spoke about the idea at a London conference last month while Congress was busy hashing out a complex, 1,400-page bill to cut greenhouse gases.
Whitening the world's roofs and roads would have the same effect on global warming as removing all the world's cars for 11 years, he said.
"So I'd like to appeal to all people -- we should convert to white limousines," he said.
Chu was joking about the limousines, of course. But his proposal for addressing climate change is genuine.
It sounds kooky, but environmentalists say the idea is legit.
They say recent research shows it's even more beneficial than previously thought. Moreover the Energy Department, flush with $38 billion in stimulus money, is in a position to make it happen.
Chu's comments were based on recent research from Arthur Rosenfeld, a former colleague of Chu's at the Energy Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Chu's all cars for 11 years number is meant to be illustrative -- no one really expects all roofs and all roads will be painted white.
But for new projects and some retrofits, it does make sense.
A white roof has three benefits:
* It keeps buildings cooler, reducing the amount of energy required for air conditioning.
* It reduces the so-call "heat island" effect, the heating up of entire urban areas which then causes other buildings in the vicinity to heat up, whether they are in direct contact with the sun or not.
* A white roof or road will actually reflect the sun's rays back into space, keeping the atmosphere cooler.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/13/news...ion=2009071314
Seriously. No kidding.
Among those promoting the idea is Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a big-thinking physicist who has a bully pulpit and influence over billions in research and stimulus funds.
Chu spoke about the idea at a London conference last month while Congress was busy hashing out a complex, 1,400-page bill to cut greenhouse gases.
Whitening the world's roofs and roads would have the same effect on global warming as removing all the world's cars for 11 years, he said.
"So I'd like to appeal to all people -- we should convert to white limousines," he said.
Chu was joking about the limousines, of course. But his proposal for addressing climate change is genuine.
It sounds kooky, but environmentalists say the idea is legit.
They say recent research shows it's even more beneficial than previously thought. Moreover the Energy Department, flush with $38 billion in stimulus money, is in a position to make it happen.
Chu's comments were based on recent research from Arthur Rosenfeld, a former colleague of Chu's at the Energy Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Chu's all cars for 11 years number is meant to be illustrative -- no one really expects all roofs and all roads will be painted white.
But for new projects and some retrofits, it does make sense.
A white roof has three benefits:
* It keeps buildings cooler, reducing the amount of energy required for air conditioning.
* It reduces the so-call "heat island" effect, the heating up of entire urban areas which then causes other buildings in the vicinity to heat up, whether they are in direct contact with the sun or not.
* A white roof or road will actually reflect the sun's rays back into space, keeping the atmosphere cooler.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/13/news...ion=2009071314
07-13-09, 03:21 PM
#2
Out of Warranty
- Why not make the roads of rubber and we use concrete tires? That would cut the cost of tire replacement while solving the tire recycling problem for good.
- With white roads we could sell advertising space on them, letting the roadway pay for its own cost of construction and eliminating unsightly billboards.
- Maybe if we focused the reflected light of our roads up to a set of mirrors in geosynchronous orbit, we could light the "night" side of the world, cutting the use of fossil fuels for street lighting.
It may explain the term, "High" Office . . .
07-13-09, 03:32 PM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
sounds good to me. I will make thousands treating the the cataracts and keratitis cases secondary to the extra sun light reflecting off the ground. also make a killing on selling sun glasses
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07-13-09, 07:31 PM
#13
Pole Position
