White cars significantly cut the cost of air conditioning in hot climates.
Credit: iStockphoto
LONDON: U.S. 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. California is already considering banning black cars in a similar energy saving step.
Simple but effective step
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 U.K.'s 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.
"The industrial revolution was a revolution in the use of energy. It offloaded from human and animal power into using fossil fuels," he said. "We have to go to a different new revolution that can severely decrease the amount of carbon emissions in the generation of energy."
problems with this idiotic scheme
"like taking all the cars off the road for 11 years". Ahh the stone age brought to you by B.O.
Eleven years, this is not a supported number by any math, this is a lie, and it is his main argument.
How much damage does making all that paint and applying all that paint do to the planet? (I assume it is for buildings as well as cars.)
If you want to get crazy like the enviros, then the reflective properties of ice (white) are what caused the ice age to occur. How about the increased eye damage from the reflected light. Yea these are ridiculous but not any more so than a high ranking government official going over seas and telling them, this is our plan. He needs to find another job, perhaps septic cleaning, he has an aptitude for shoveling excrement.