Obama says....White Is Right!

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

US wants to paint the world white to save energy

LONDON(AFP) (AFP) – US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday the Obama administration wanted to paint roofs an energy-reflecting white, as he took part in a climate change symposium in London.
The Nobel laureate in physics called for a "new revolution" in energy generation to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

But he warned there was no silver bullet for tackling climate change, and said a range of measures should be introduced, including painting flat roofs white.

Making roads and roofs a paler colour could have the equivalent effect of taking every car in the world off the road for 11 years, Chu said.

It was a geo-engineering scheme that was "completely benign" and would keep buildings cooler and reduce energy use from air conditioning, as well as reflecting sunlight back away from the Earth.

For people who found white hard on the eye, scientists had also developed "cool colours" which looked to the human eye like normal ones, but reflect heat like pale colours even if they are darker shades.

And painting cars in cool or light colours could deliver considerable savings on energy use for air conditioning units, he said.

Speaking at the start of a symposium on climate change hosted by the Prince of Wales and attended by more than 20 Nobel laureates, Chu said fresh thinking was required to cut the amount of carbon created by power generation.

He said: "The industrial revolution was a revolution in the use of energy. It offloaded from human and animal power into using fossil fuels.

"We have to go to a different new revolution that can severely decrease the amount of carbon emissions in the generation of energy."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090526/sc_afp/climatewarmingusbritainchu

Click to read more...

 

[Andrew12 10+ year member]

link?

 

[Blue Fury 10+ year member]

I guess every little step counts for something, it's better than doing nothing about the little easy things.

meh

 

[Andrew12 10+ year member]

I guess every little step counts for something, it's better than doing nothing about the little easy things.
meh

White power?

 

[BryanCain]

No wonder my house is so hot. It's dead black.

 

[Andrew12 10+ year member]

Thanks for the link man

 

[perfecxionX 10+ year member]

i remembered reading this a few months ago

http://www.physorg.com/news140875649.html

If the 100 largest cities in the world replaced their dark roofs with white shingles and their asphalt-based roads with concrete or other light-colored material, it could offset 44 metric gigatons (billion tons) of greenhouse gases, the study shows. That amounts to more greenhouse gas than the entire human population emits in one year, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. The strategy could also offset the growth in carbon dioxide emissions, which account for about 75% of greenhouse gases, for the next 10 years.
The reason for white is simple: white reflects the sun´s rays more than black does. The study´s coauthor, LBNL physicist Hashem Akbari, explained that it takes about 10 square meters of white roof to offset 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide. In warm climates, white roofs have the additional benefit of lowering the cost of air conditioning by up to 20% in hot months.

It´s this second reason of reduced cooling costs that prompted the state of California to require in 2005 that flat-roofed commercial buildings have white roofs. In 2009, the state will require that new and retrofitted residential and commercial, with both flat and sloped roofs, be installed with heat-reflective roofing. The requirements are part of California´s energy-efficient building code.

Globally, roofs account for about 25% of the surface of most cities, and pavement accounts for about 35%. Even without cutting industrial pollution from current levels, installing white roofs and pavements could offset more than 10 years of emissions growth, according to the conference data.

Economically, the scientists estimate that white roofs and roads could save billions of dollars per year in reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Besides offsetting global warming and reducing cooling costs, white surfaces offer a third benefit: they could cool a city by a few degrees, which dramatically reduces smog.

The LBNL physicists plan to work with the United Nations to persuade the world´s major tropical and temperate cities to adopt white roofing and pavement strategies.

Akbari, along with coauthors Surabi Menon of LBNL and California Energy Commissioner Arthur Rosenfield, will publish the study, called "Global Cooling: Increasing Worldwide Urban Albedos to Offset CO2," in an upcoming issue of the journal Climate Change.

 

[BryanCain]

Thanks for the link man

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090526/sc_afp/climatewarmingusbritainchu

? that it ?

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

I wonder how much tons of waste it would cost to make new shingles.

 

[DDeitz 10+ year member]

i can finally say white power and no one call me a racist!

WHITE POWER!

 

[BryanCain]

I wonder how much tons of waste it would cost to make new shingles.

u wanna fight?

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

I wonder how much tons of waste it would cost to make new shingles.

we can just paint them all white with lead based paint from china //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

we can just paint them all white with lead based paint from china //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

only if we can have our kids eating paint chips again.

 

[jdawg90 10+ year member]

I don't see how this adds greenhouse gases... i can see how it might slightly lower temperatures but greenhouse gases come from combustion... not hot shingles

who knows maybe this is a joke thread i dont see how it couldnt be and with how stupid the ****ing liberal media is maybe idk im really high

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]