Friday, September 12, 2008
Bermuda everywhere: Paint the rooftops
Fifteen months ago I wrote a post in which I passed along the claim that painting roofs white would increase the planet's albedo (reflectivity) so much that temperatures might actually decline to pre-industrial levels notwithstanding higher levels of greenhouse gases. Now we have more evidence from FP Passport:
Stop the climate negotiations. There's a better answer. Two words: white roofs.
If stats from a paper by Hashem Akbari of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory are correct, re-roofing 100 global cities could stop 44 metric gigatons from entering the atmosphere -- more than all the countries in the world combined emit now.
The articles do not say so, but what would be the problem with whitewashing parking lots? You know, white pavement, black lines for the parking places? That would help, too.
There are, of course, enormous, almost insurmountable problems with this idea. First, it would be trivially inexpensive compared to forced reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Second, there would be no need to rush through a transformation of the mass consumer economy. Third, it would be reversable, on the off chance that the climate prediction models are wrong. Fourth, the lefties will never support it because it does not sufficiently damage capitalism. Oh well.
20 Comments:
By 
, at
Fri Sep 12, 11:12:00 PM:
Ever try looking at bright white paper in the sunlight? White roofs look awful to me and they degrade our ability to see detail in other surroundings. We're not so desperate that we need to address what is a not terribly well understood problem in a way that just creates other undesirable effects.
By 
Purple Avenger, at
Sat Sep 13, 12:41:00 AM:
in a way that just creates other undesirable effects
Such as lowered A/C bills? The difference between a white and non-white roof on the temperature of an attic is dramatic.
Are you shill for the power companies?
By , at
Sat Sep 13, 12:49:00 AM:
I'm an architect. Why assume that people you don't understand are shills for those you hate?
I don't like white roofs because, the areas where most of us live do not have flat roofs that are hidden from the street and white roofs, like high contrast photography kills visual acuity. The ability to see detail is sometimes not just functional but useful from a safety standpoint.
Furthermore, the are many ways to reduce AC bills other than painting the roof white. You can use more efficient insulation, more efficient equipment, practical natural ventilation strategies, night time building cooling. The list is much longer.
Would it be safe to say that people who advocate white roofs are shills for roofing manufacturer's?
I don't think so.
Lets keep it civil.
By Purple Avenger, at
Sat Sep 13, 01:30:00 AM:
The list is much longer.
...and more expensive and much harder to retrofit to old construction than simply selecting a white shingle or finish.
If you can present some OSHA or law enforcement data showing a significant safety risk from white roofs, I'm all ears.
People have been using white roofing in the south for many decades because it costs them less on their power bills. White cars are also quite popular down here for obvious reasons.
Would it be safe to say that people who advocate white roofs are shills for roofing manufacturer's?
Not if they only replace when warranted. Anyone who advocates replacing a new roof is a fool.
By , at
Sat Sep 13, 02:05:00 AM:
Tigerhawks summation of why white roofs wouldn't work is correct.
On the other hand, my campus has recently changed a decades old policy and all new roofs will be white. It helps that some of the research on this subject was done here.
By Purple Avenger, at
Sat Sep 13, 02:23:00 AM:
Even on a lot of commercial roofs that remain dark color, they're spreading light colored stuff around the areas where the A/C compressors reside to try and make the incoming coil air a bit cooler.
There's a reason why white is the most popular paint color -- precisely the reason our annon commenter is pimping as a liability -- degradation of visual acuity. Flaws on white painted surfaces don't show up as well as on darker surfaces. Given the sorry state of construction fit/finish these days, I predict white will continue to remain very popular for precisely this reason. People need to hide defects.
By , at
Sat Sep 13, 05:58:00 AM:
These global warming idiots will say anything to get us to belive in this eco-popycock bull kaka i mean its the biggist lie being spread and now the UN wants us to give up meat GO TELL KOFFI ANNAN and that jerk quack hindu dr to GO JUMP IN A PIT FULL OF RABID WOLVERINES
By Gary Rosen, at
Sat Sep 13, 07:11:00 AM:
We already knew Tigerhawk was a member of the VRWC. Now it is revealed he is also a member of the VWRC (vast white roof conspiracy).
By JPMcT, at
Sat Sep 13, 07:38:00 AM:
NAW...White roof paint will never make it. Simply put, it will not allow a mechanism by which political and economic power can be redistributed to a few Illuminati. That is, after all, the MAIN reason for the global warming hoax. Any "solution" that enriched only a few paint companies and allowed everyone else to maintain control over their lives and money would be unacceptable...even if the problem actually did exist.
Given the bulk of the data available, we would probably be better off insulating our attics in preparation for the global temperature DROP over the next 20 years.
By davod, at
Sat Sep 13, 08:16:00 AM:
"Any "solution" that enriched only a few paint companies and allowed everyone else to maintain control over their lives and money would be unacceptable...even if the problem actually did exist."
Maybe we had better check to see if Al Gore has invested in any paint manufacturers.
Actually, we will probably be reduced to using environmentally friendly lime instead of paint. Thereby creating a whole new industry people coating buldings with lime every twelve months.
Of course, this process will be so complicated that the government regulations will be such that only government employees would be deemed qualified to do the work, supervised by qualifed government inspectors, at the ratio of 2 to 1.
By , at
Sat Sep 13, 08:38:00 AM:
Sometime near the end of the Second Punic war (,72), I was a student at Columbia taking courses in what was then called Geography (now generally called applied earth sciences). The issue of urban heat islands and the effects of paving on water tables were hot topics. I remember models showing that using white concrete for roads, as well as white roofing could cut the heat island effect in NYC by about 65%.
This never caught on because it cost money to paint tar roofs, white asphalt and concrete roads cost more to maintain, and everyone was in a panic about Global Cooling.
Sic semper humanis!
By , at
Sat Sep 13, 08:40:00 AM:
Bermuda? White rooftops? The heck with that. I'm waiting for your post about Saint Sarah's interview. After you were eagerly answered the 20 questions FP proposed for Palin, I thought you'd jump at the chance to critique her responses to Charlie Gibson's (or at least provide your own :p Or is this a case of "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all?
My favorite exchange out of many:
PALIN: And, Charlie, you're in Alaska. We have that very narrow maritime border between the United States, and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are our next door neighbors. We need to have a good relationship with them. They're very, very important to us and they are our next door neighbor.
GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?
PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.
I work down the street from Federal Reserve. Does that mean I get to help set monetary policy, Charlie?
By TigerHawk, at
Sat Sep 13, 09:24:00 AM:
Sadly, I did not see the Palin/Gibson interview -- only snippets on YouTube. Too busy with the day job. I did read blog reactions of both left and right, virtually all of which seemed to echo the predispositions of their authors.
Still, I remain delighted on John McCain's behalf that this election has become a referendum on Sarah Palin. That longer that goes on, the better, since nobody is going to vote against McCain because of her.
By Purple Avenger, at
Sat Sep 13, 11:19:00 AM:
In the future I predict a lot of roofs will be translucent light green in color and the roof material itself will be a massive solar collector.
To say any more would require you all to sign NDA's.
By vanderleun, at
Sat Sep 13, 01:20:00 PM:
"I work down the street from Federal Reserve. Does that mean I get to help set monetary policy, Charlie?"
If you can get elected, yes.
By vanderleun, at
Sat Sep 13, 01:21:00 PM:
Steven Wright: "It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it."
By CMT, at
Sat Sep 13, 02:30:00 PM:
Or build one these, as profiled on Discovery channel as part of the Project Earth series...
"Space Sunshield - We know that blocking sunlight can counter global warming, so consider the notion of shading the planet with mirrors"
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/project-earth/lab-books/space-sunshield/guide1.html
By Brian, at
Sat Sep 13, 05:24:00 PM:
Always click the link. The author's own conclusions:
"44 GT CO2 is over one year of the world 2025
emission of 37 GT CO2
At a growth rate of 1.5% in the world’s CO2 -
equivalent emission rate, 44 GT CO2 would
offset the effect of the growth in CO2-equivalent
emissions for 11 years"
Useful - yes, assuming the author's analysis is right. As a substitute for all other action though, you can forget it.
Folks here may be intrigued to know that this got the same positive write-up on a major environmentalist website:
http://www.nrdc.org/news/grist/Wednesday.asp
By TigerHawk, at
Sat Sep 13, 10:34:00 PM:
Thanks, Brian. Thing is, the idea has been around a long time with studies to back it up, and I have never heard it pushed as even an incremental strategy by the activists. But I admit, I only occasionally dig for that sort of thing.
By EcoTretas, at
Sun Sep 14, 11:59:00 AM:
It used to be a tradition in the most hottest parts of Portugal to paint the houses with white lime. Two ideas rise to my mind: they were pretty smart, and when they stopped doing that, worldwide temperatures started going up ;-)
Ecotretas
http://ecotretas.blogspot.com
