Paint the World White
Climate Change Symposium
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned Tuesday there was no silver bullet for tackling climate change, and said a range of measures should be introduced. The Nobel laureate in physics called for a "new revolution" in energy generation to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Obama administration wanted to paint roofs an energy-reflecting white. 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. Making roads and roofs a paler color could have the equivalent effect of taking every car in the world off the road for 11 years, Chu said.
And painting cars in cool or light colors could deliver considerable savings on energy use for air conditioning units, he said. 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.” Human and animal power was replaced by 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."LONDON (Copyright: Agence France Presse)
California’s Title 24, has required all new buildings and reroofing to be white reflecting enough light and heat back into space to offset some of the warming of the last few decades. It's not a true fix for the problem, obviously. For that, we need clean, sustainable energy. But it could buy us enough time to make the changes we truly need.
These creative ideas follow the CoolingEarth.org examples of geo-engineering, but are only a start.
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned Tuesday there was no silver bullet for tackling climate change, and said a range of measures should be introduced. The Nobel laureate in physics called for a "new revolution" in energy generation to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Obama administration wanted to paint roofs an energy-reflecting white. 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. Making roads and roofs a paler color could have the equivalent effect of taking every car in the world off the road for 11 years, Chu said.
And painting cars in cool or light colors could deliver considerable savings on energy use for air conditioning units, he said. 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.” Human and animal power was replaced by 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."LONDON (Copyright: Agence France Presse)
California’s Title 24, has required all new buildings and reroofing to be white reflecting enough light and heat back into space to offset some of the warming of the last few decades. It's not a true fix for the problem, obviously. For that, we need clean, sustainable energy. But it could buy us enough time to make the changes we truly need.
These creative ideas follow the CoolingEarth.org examples of geo-engineering, but are only a start.
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