US wants to paint the world white to save energy

[Arnold]

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."

source

 

[IronAddict]

If that'll help, why not ? Even if it's just a little.

 

[Dale Mabry]

That's Racist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Gazhole]

Surely in colder countries painting the roofs black to absorb heat would be the way to go to save energy used on central heating?

Make all roofs out of solar panels. Energy problem solved. The world would be really shiny aswell.

 

[busyLivin]

You've got to be fucking kidding me

 

[maxpro2]

You've got to be fucking kidding me

Yeah god damn those scientists who find simple solutions which, in the aggregate, can have a substantial effect on climate change.

Seriously, why are you such an asshole? Because the Obama admnistration is involved? Solutions like this, even if they help a little, should be investigated further and promoted if promising.

 

[busyLivin]

Yeah god damn those scientists who find simple solutions which, in the aggregate, can have a substantial effect on climate change.

Seriously, why are you such an asshole? Because the Obama admnistration is involved? Solutions like this, even if they help a little, should be investigated further and promoted if promising.

Nothing to do with Obama.

I'm an "asshole" because I think this man-made global warming thing is a joke. I'm all for green energy.. not because I think it's affecting the planet, but because gets us away from oil... but the way we are getting there is going to be a disaster. Obama is jumping in head first. Just wait & see what happens when this Cap & trade nightmare is implemented... you'll be doing the bitching, I promise.

Regardless, now we can't have black cars, and everything is going to be painted white. It's absolutely absurd. Al Gore is a clown.

 

[Arnold]

Seriously, why are you such an asshole? Because the Obama administration is involved?

that is exactly why.

 

[busyLivin]

that is exactly why.

I've said "man-made global warming" was a joke long before I even knew of Obama. This has nothing to do with him.

 

[maxpro2]

I've said "man-made global warming" was a joke long before I even knew of Obama. This has nothing to do with him.

Yeah because working towards a cleaner and healthier environment is really a shitty thing to do if global warming doesn't exist.

 

[busyLivin]

Yeah because working towards a cleaner and healthier environment is really a shitty thing to do if global warming doesn't exist.

I'm all for green energy.. not because I think it's affecting the planet, but because gets us away from oil... but the way we are getting there is going to be a disaster.

Read much?

 

[maniclion]

Surely in colder countries painting the roofs black to absorb heat would be the way to go to save energy used on central heating?

Make all roofs out of solar panels. Energy problem solved. The world would be really shiny aswell.

Actually solar modules use low reflective glass to ensure max absorption of photons.. Painting the roofs white isn't all we need to do, we need architects who can build homes to capture the wind to cool them, build more homes into the ground to use the earth to cool them, use the suns heat to make everyones hot water or at least warm it up before they heat it with a fuel source. I the north everyother window in a skyscraper could be a PV module with a translucent backing material so that they would produce energy and allow light through.



The best thing we could do is use solar power to pump a large amount of water uphill into a resevoir during the day and then let it flow back down at night through an array of hydro-generators....... This way is more efficient than losing half the power through separating hydrogen from water, than charging batteries, than winding springs or twisting high tension cables and then releasing them or making molten salt and making steam for turbines.....you just pump the water up hill and then gravity does the work back down......

 

[maxpro2]

What you are basically saying is that saving energy and improving the environment are horrible things to do unless global warming is absolutely proven. I'm saying 1) Global warming exists and if you don't think so you are a fucking moron, and 2) even if it didn't exist, these are still good goals to have, so quit your whining about proof of global warming.

 

[busyLivin]

What you are basically saying is that saving energy and improving the environment are horrible things to do unless global warming is absolutely proven.

Where did I say that?

Let me walk you through it, since you obviously require it. I said "I'm all for green energy".. meaning I like the idea of clean & renewable energy, regardless of the "man-made" global warming aspect of it. What's not to like about it?

I later said "the way we are getting there is going to be a disaster" meaning that the way Obama is taking us there I think is wrong. When your electricity bill shoots sky high (1500 more/year) & the gas in your car costs 60% more (last quote i saw) because of cap & trade, then you will realize the impact of Obama's path to clean & renewable energy.

I think we should take steps toward it, he's jumping right in, head first and admittedly said "it's going to be painful".

 

[maxpro2]

Where did I say that?

Let me walk you through it, since you obviously require it. I said "I'm all for green energy".. meaning I like the idea of clean & renewable energy, regardless of the "man-made" global warming aspect of it. What's not to like about it?

Then shut the fuck up about global warming.

 

[lola1182]

i'm in for whatever i can do help. ^_^

 

[Little Wing]

it's only 54 damn degrees fahrenheit here today. global warm my ass.

i don't get why it's so easy to accept the land we live on was once sea and so hard to accept it's happening again.

yes i think man has an effect and causes big problems but nature is doing her thing and she has more power than anyone wants to accept. the U.S. will be covered in sea again in time... our impact is just speeding it along slightly.

 

[min0 lee]

Some roofs already are painted silver, and let me tell you it makes a difference on the tenants living on the last floor heat wise..

 

[maniclion]

it's only 54 damn degrees fahrenheit here today. global warm my ass.

i don't get why it's so easy to accept the land we live on was once sea and so hard to accept it's happening again.

yes i think man has an effect and causes big problems but nature is doing her thing and she has more power than anyone wants to accept. the U.S. will be covered in sea again in time... our impact is just speeding it along slightly.

You are getting the Swamp cooler effect, take a block of ice put a fan behind it and as it melts the cool air will simulate exactly what you are feeling. Of course farther back from that when the moist air warms you'll get humid hot air like we are feeling now in Hawaii, it's really nasty out right now.....

Not just slightly, the 6 billion of us are making a huge impact on our environment, swath's of sensitive rainforest chopped down, psychotic firebugs setting forests ablaze unnaturally. Huge thousand acre whirpools of plastic debris collecting heat in the pacific ocean like dipping a heating element in a swimming pool not much right away but over time it can cause enough problems. We've seen croplands destroyed by farmers not using wind breaks leading to massive erosion. Strip mining, on and on we do have a huge impact you just gotta look at the larger scale of it all...........

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Water covers more than 70 percent of the planet's surface, making our rivers, lakes and oceans the lifeblood of our planet. Many of these bodies of water may be out of sight and out of mind, but our health may depend on their protection.

Currently, scientists believe the world's largest garbage dump isn't on land…it's in the Pacific Ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch stretches from the coast of California to Japan, and it's estimated to be twice the size of Texas. "This is the most shocking thing I have seen," Oprah says.

In some places, the floating debris—estimated to be about 90 percent plastic—goes 90 feet deep. Elsewhere, there are six times more pieces of plastic than plankton, the main food source for many sea animals.

Where did this trash come from? Marine biologists estimate that about 80 percent of the litter is from land, either dumped directly into waterways or blown into rivers and streams from states as far away as Iowa.

 

[Dale Mabry]

I cannot believe a black president is going to paint the US white and DOMS ain't even here to pop a boner.

 

[busyLivin]

I cannot believe a black president is going to paint the US white and DOMS ain't even here to pop a boner.